





'• '^^ ^ 

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' /.A%f.:- \^^^^^ _ 




^;^£^vv^' -^m 



O"^ o". 



IV. 



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ERIE RAILWAY COMPANY. 



Commutation Tariff, taking effect April 1st, 1873. 



EASTERN DIVISION AND BRANCHES. 



NEW YORK 



RUTHEKFURD PARK . 

SANTIAGO 

PASSAIC 

CLIFTON 

LAKE VIEW 

PATERSON 

HAWTHORNE 

RIDGE WOOD 

HOHOKUS 

ALLENDALE 

RAMSEY'S 

MAUWAH 

SUFFERN 

RAMAPO 

STERLING JUNCTION. 

SLOATSBURG 

SOUTHFIELDS 

GREENWOOD 

TURNER'S 

MONROE 

OXFORD 

GREYCOURT 

CHESTER 

GOSHEN 

HAMPTON 

MIDDLETOWN 

HOWELL'S 

OTISVILLE 

GUY^MARD 

PORT JERVIS 



i% 




COMMUTATION. 




.§.• 


s& 


One 


Three 


First 


Second 

Six 
Months. 


Twelve 


t^ 

^.-c 


1^ 


Month. 


Months. 


Months. 


Months. 


W^ 


qy^ 


11.00 


22.50 


40.00 


25.00 


60.00 


0.40 


loX 


11.50 


23.00 


40-75 


25-75 


60.75 


0.50 


i^k 


11-75 


24.25 


42.25 


27.25 


62.25 


0.55 


13^ 


12.25 


24.75 


43.00 


28.00 


63.00 


0.65 


15 


12.75 


26.00 


44-25 


29.25 


64.25 


0.70 


ibX 


13.00 


26.50 


45-00 


30.00 


65.00 


0.75 


18^4 


13-75 


27.50 


46.00 


31-25 


67.50 


0.85 


22 


14-75 


29.25 


47-75 


33-25 


71.00 


0.95 


23k 


15-25 


30.00 


48-50 


34-75 


72.25 


1. 00 


25.^ 


16.00 


31-25 


49-75 


36.GO 


76.00 


1. 10 


27^ 


16.75 


32.50 


51.00 


37-25 


7S.50 


I-I5 


30 


17-50 


33-75 


52.25 


38-75 


81.50 


. 1-25 


32 


18.00 


34-50 


53-00 


40.00 


83.25 


1-35 


33^4 


18.50 


35-50 


54-50 


42.00 


87.00 


1.40 


34:^4 


18.75 


36.00 


55-25 


43.00 


89.00 


1-45 


35^, 


19.00 


36-50 


56.00 


44.00 


90-75 


T-45 


42 


20.00 


39-50 


61.50 


51.00 


104.50 


^-75 


44J4 


20.50 


40.50 


63.50 


53-50 


109.25 


i.b5 


47>6 


22.00 


42.50 


67.00 


58.00 


"7-75 


1-95 


49;^ 


22.50 


44.00 


69-25 


61.25 


123.75 


2.05 


52k 


23.00 


45-50 


72.00 


04-50 


130.25 


2.15 


54>4 


23.50 


46.50 


74-25 


67.50 


135-50 


2.25 


55^ 


24.00 


47-25 


75-25 


68.75 


138.00 


2.30 


5Q-)i 


25.00 


50.00 


80.00 


75.00 


150.00 


2.50 


b3% 


26.50 


52.00 


83,00 


77-75 


154.00 


2.60 


67 


27.50 


53-75 


86.00 


80.00 


160.00 


2.75 


71 


28.50 


55-75 


88.75 


82.50 


163-75 


2.90 


7535i 


30.00 


58-50 


91-75 


85-75 


168.25 


3.10 


8o>4 


31.00 


61.00 


94-75 


88.75 


172.50 


3-30 


8«M 


33.00 


65.00 


IOC. 00 


93-75 


180.00 


3.60 



NE\^^RK BRANCH. 



NEW YORK 

AM) 



NEWARK, 



WOODSIDE 

BELLEVILLE 

NORTH BELLEVILLE. 

AVONDALE 

FRANKLIN 

HIGHLAND 

CENTREVILLE 



8X 



10% 

I2U 

i6X 



COMMUTATION 


Local 
Fare. 


I Men. 


6.00 


20 cts. 


2 " 


12.00 




3 " 


18.00 




4 

5 '■ 


23.50 
28.00 




6 " 


32.50 

36-50 




8 '• 


40.50 




9 ;' 

10 


44-50 
48.00 


:;: 


II " 


51-50 




12 " 


55-00 




One 
Month. 


Twelve 
Months. 




7.00 


62.00 


25 cts. 


7-50 


62.50 


30 '' 


8.00 
8.50 


62.50 
63.00 


30 • 

35 ' 


9.00 


63.00 


35 


10.00 


63-50 


40 •' 


12.00 


64.00 


45 '* 



Excur- 
sion 
Fare. 



35 ^'S. 



45 Cts 

■55 ' 

55 " 

60 '■■ 

60 " 

65 ' 

70 ' 



Package 
Tickets. 



10 for f 1.50 



for ,f 5 



{Continued on M page of Cover.) 



Head-quarters ofWoodside Seal Estate, 

Est!il)lished 1S69. 

WASHINGTON AVE., (one block west of Depot,) 

lilSIllp (NEWARK,) 1* I* 

(See page 07.) 

Cottages and Country Seats, $2,000 to $100,000. 

LOTS, PLOTS and VILLA SITES, 

LAND BY THE ACRE, 

Insurance effected in all first-class Companies. Commissioner of needs. 

























u 
"1 ? 



'a 3 



FOR HOUSES 

Or Village Lots and Plots, 



APPLY TO 



GEO. S. PORTER, 



200 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, 



Residence, Franklin, M. J; 



TERMS, EASY. 



DESCRIPTION OF FRANKLIN, ON PAGES 69 and 70. 



Ur 



i^smii npms 



FOR 



CITY BUSINESS MEN. 



A Descriptioa of the Oouutry adjaosnt to tlie Eastern Division 
and Branclies of the 

BSIH BAIIiWAW 

AND 

NORTHERN RAILROAD OF NEW JERSEY. 



YOdETa^SP WITH A 8TATEMEXT OP THE IKDUCEMENT3 OFPKRKD FOR PTTRCHAHE 0> 

* SUBUKBAN RESIDENCE IN THE RICH VALLEYs* OP THE HaCKENSACK 

AMD PASSAIC, THE HEALTHFUL MOUNTAIN REGION OP TUS 

BAMAPO, OR THE PAIR FIELD3 OP ORANGK COUNTT. 

COMPILED BY 

WM. YORKE ATLEE, 



•Bfatua iUe qui prorul ne^otiii, 
Ut pri3»a KfQ8 mortHlumi, 
Pat^rns run* bobua excrcet suii, 
Solutus oiiiai feuore." 




Entered accord'.ug to Act of Conzreas, In the year 1873, by Wm. Y'^pki Atlbk, 
Id the Office of the Ubrarian of Consress. 



I*u.T>lislied Td^ tlie Erie Railway Coinpany^ 



i8v5 



VJ 



INTRODUCTION, 



(Fifth Edition.) 



It is with pleasure that the Compiler this season presents to the 

public a new and revised edition of " Suburban Homes." The 

popularity and usefulness of the work have become so well estab 

lished that its annual issue is now looked for with a certain degree 

of eagerness by New Yorkers, and all interested in New Jersey real 

estate ; and, notwithstanding the comparative fin2.ncial stagnation of 

the past season, there will be found in the landed interests herein 

represented, gratifying assurance of the continued demand for 

homes for New York business men, in the attractive and healthful 

region which the book describes. 

W. Y. A. 






w* 



!? 'Wi'm ^'s^ ^'^«issl '^KsssB^ ''^^ssssssa 



FOR 



CITY BUSINESS MEN 



Of late years the growth of New^York has begun to awaken people 
to the rapidly approaching necessity of providing more frequent, 
and rapid communication with the neighboring rural districts. The 
heights of Brooklyn, the wooded slopes of Staten Island, and the 
flowery plains of New Jersey, were fair indeed to look upon. " Why 
not have good boats and good cars? And why not live over there 
instead of in the close, dusty city ? " This was the first whisper that 
came in, and each year louder, with the first breath of Spring, through 
the city casements ; it told of fragrant violets in many a far-oflf field ; 
of wild birds singing soft and low in many a quiet dell ; of long 
stretches of clover meadow, with browsing cattle, and the song of the 
ploughman at his toil ; of brooks clear as crystal, babbling over a 
pebbly bottom by the roadside ; all this made up the picture that the 

Spring breezes brought. 

So at last, owing on the one hand to the establishment of direct, 

frequent and comfortable accommodations for travel across the rivers, 
and on the other, to the peculiar topography of Manhattan Island, 
the rush of Suburban Home seekers, tired of extortionate 
rents and doctor's bills, actually began. Look at its results : Brook- 
lyn, the third city in the Union, Jersey City the tenth, Newark as 
large as New-Orleans, and Westchester County, Staten Island, and 
all Eastern and Northern New Jersey teeming with life, and dotted 
with the homes of New York business men. 



suburban uomf -^. ^ 

The Question op Cut vs. Counthy. 
And apropos of this subject, we quote from the New York Herald 



" But a very few years since — five years at tiie utmost — rauch writing 
and argument were necessary to interest the people of New York in 
New Jersey as a place of residence. Staten Island, Long: Island, 
Westchester and Connecticut, found ready favor from all those intent 
upon leaving the city, but New Jersey was simply ** Jersey," the last 
of all places to which a New Yorker would desire to emigrate. Then 
thaiWpart ot the State contiguous to New York, if we except Hudson 
county, was. outside of the cities, but plain farming lands, and, in 
most instances, could be bought at old farming prices, and the rail- 
roads carried a few local passengnrs. But, now who would recognize 
the New Jersey of those days, in what can be seen on the line of any 
of its railroads within twenty-five miles of New York. 

There are those living within the hearing of Niagara who have 
never seen the mighty cataract which attracts visitors Irom another 
contment. Another evidence of the same trait is, that there are those 
living in New York who have no conception that just across the 
Hudson river there is growing up an immense city, that within a very 
few years will rank among the greatest in this country. Newark, 
Paterson, Hackensack, Elizabeth, Jersey City and Hoboken form the 
New Jersey chain of cities, by intervening villages all their streets 
connect, and the most remofe— -Paterson and Hackensack — are within 
60 minutes of New York. Unite all under one government, and they 
would tonn a Metropolis occupying 133 squarn miles, the same area 
as that of London ; the pctpulation being 4(K),000, it would rank as 
the fourth city of tlie Union. What can stop the growth ot this 
great city? 850 passenger trains pass through it daily, the Hudson 
faces it, two other magnificent rivers and a canal stretch tlirouirh it 
lengthwise, and Newark Bay gives an additional front of five miles, 
BO that altogether it has over three times the water front of the city 
of New Y"rk. 

Of the 40l',000 souls living in thii=t embryo city, at least two-thirds 
have gone from the city of New Fork, proving that the wave of 
suliurban emigration sets strongly and steadily towards New Jersey. 
The censuH for 1870 shows that during the past ten years, while New 
York city has grown but fourteen t)ei- cent.. New Jersey has increased 
forty pnr cent.; and that the inhal)itants of Metropolitan New York, 
iiicluJinir the suburbs for forty mil'-s round about, comprise 3,330,637 
souls, divided, as to location, in the following proportion : 

3 per cent, live in Orange county. New York. 

1 per cent, live in Rockland county, Xew York. 

\\ per cent, live in Kichinond conniy, (Sia'en Island,) New York 

1 percent, live in Fairfield county, Connecticut 

6 per cent, live in VV estchester ctmuty. 
23| per cent, live on Long Island. 
38^ per cent, live in N<'W Jersey. 
41. J per cent, live in the city of New York. 



SUBURBAN HOMES 5 

There are those, doubtless, who will assert that the inconveniencea 
and detentions experienced by the man of business in reaching or 
coming from his home in the suburbs, more than counterbalance the 
advantages derived by its possession. liet us exhaust all their 
trite arguments in favor of remaining in town. " Well," says Mr. 
Thoughtless, " no home in the country for me ! Not any. Getting 
up in the morning at sunrise is a habit I never Cv-uld, and never will 
become reconciled to. Then no gas, B.r>'\ no Croton ; no brick side- 
walks ; and no horse-cars ; hastily swallowed breakfasts and a chase 
for the train ; an hour in going each way, morning and evening. 
Then, if I want to go out at night, to the theatre, church, lecture or 
Lodge, where am I ? Or, if we want to drop in somewhere for ice 
cream on a summer evening ; or send for a carriage ; or give a 
party ? No, sir, the City is good enough for me." 

All this, thougti scarcely applicable to Suburban homes in places like 
Hackensack, Passaic, Paterson, Goshen or Middletown, makes a very 
fair picture, no doubt, and leaves the impression that any part of 
New York, in Mr. Thoughtless' mind, is preferable to a Suburban home. 
But, let Mr. T. be reminded of this, that while there are Five Points in 
New York, there are also five points, and good ones, in favor of his 
leaving it, namely : 

Ist. Superior conveniences for comrmmication. One can reach the 
City Hall Park from Paterson, eighteen miles distant, quicker and 
more comfortably than from Eightieth St. In the latter case, he 
makes the transit in closely-crowded filthy, slow-going horse 
cars or stages ; in the former, in clean and well ventilated, roomy, and 
broad-gauge coaches, and in swift and spacious ferry boats. Com- 
munication is frequent and regular between the hours of daylight 
and midnight, affording Suburban residents an opportunity of being 
in the city at any reasonable hour, either for business or amusement. 
A midnight theatre train leaves the City every evening. 

3d. Increased healthful ness. No comment is needed to convince 
the intelligent reader of the sanitary and moral advantages to be 
derived by exchanging the povsonous miasmatic odors of the gutters 
acd yards, for the clear, pure atmosphere, blowing fresh from the open 



6 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

comntiy, and laden with the fragrance of buttercups and violets, and 
new mown hay. 

3d. Tuoice as much domestic comfort for the same, or even less, 
money. A man on a moderate income, or on a salary, can barely drag 
along and keep up a decent appearance, if living in the City. If he 
live in a flat, (that abominable imitation of a Parisian idea,) what 
privacy has he ? If he boards — worse yet ; for who does not know 
the grim horrors of a New York, (or in fact any other man's) boarding 
house? And, if he keep house, he must pay, at least, from $1,500 to 
$3,000 rent, and as much more for his expenses. How, under such 
circumstances, is a man of a moderate salary to get along, and remain 
in New York ? 

4th. Tou are paying rent into your own pocket. With a payment 
of a few hundred dollars, say from $300 to $500, you can secure pos- 
session of a house and ground worth, say $7,000, agreeing to pay 
interest oh the principal for five years, and to pay a small annual 
instalment on the purchase money beside. Thus the money you 
would otherwise hand a landlord is applied toward the payment of 
your own house, and at the end of a few j'-ears the house is not your 
landlord's, but your own. Hundreds of young men, with but a small 
cash capital, have in this way, within the past five years, become pro- 
perty-holders in the suburbs. 

5th. Tour property wilt appreciate on your hands. The constant 
influx of new comers, and the demand for real estate, so rapidly 
enhances its value in the suburbs, that the j udicious buyer cannot 
fail, at any time he may desire to sell, to realize a handsome profit on 
his orignal investment. The writer has in mind a certain tract in the 
City of Paterson, which, a year or two ago, could have been bought 
for a few hundred dollars per acre, but which now is divided up into 
lots which command from $800 to $1,000 each. 



So, since comfort, health, economy, self-interest, and the hope of 

future wealth, all combine to point out to the prudent and careful 

man of family the unquestionable advantages of acquiring a home, 

" Just without the rush and bustle 
Of the city's throbbins heart." 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 7 

it next becomes a matter of fully equal importance, tliat the pros- 
pective purchaser shall determine where, and on what line of road he 
can most satisfactorily locate. A man, who by economy, care and 
self-denial, has managed to accumulate a few hundred dollars 
in bank, is not going to invest that money in real estate heedlessly 
or hastily. He will visit the various suburbs, closely note the means 
of communication, ascertain the value or fluctuations in real estate in 
each locality ; find out whether there is good water, a grocery store, 
church, school house, etc. ; see what indications of progress and im- 
provement are visible, and, after all this, will finally settle down where 
the best accommodations are offered at the most reasonable terms. And 
it is just this very process of reasoning that has sent, during the last 
five years, thousands of people of moderate means, to buy homes, and 
settle down in the beautiful region adjacent to the Eastern Division 
of the Erie Railway. 

Superior Advantages Offered by the Erie Railway to 
Suburban Home Seekers. 
Frequency of Communication Up-town and Down-toion. Swift and 
spacious ferry boats leave the foot of Chambers Street every fifteen 
minutes, and the foot of Twenty-third Street every half hour, con- 
necting with trains at the Jersey City Depot. Some forty trains, 
in all, depart daily for the various stations herein mentioned. There 
are half-hour trains toward the city in the morning between -seven 
and nine, and from the city between four and six. During the re- 
mainder of the day, trains leave about every hour for all principal 
stations. There is also a train leaving Chambers Street at midnight, 
for the especial accommodation of theater goers. 

Clean Roomy CoacheB. The Coaches of %he Erie Railway being of 
the broad gauge pattern, are over a foot wider than those in ordinary 
use, and there is consequently, a proportional increase of comfort for 
the traveler. The wide, roomy seats aflfording abundance of space 
for seating two persons, form a striking contrast with the close quar- 
ters to be found in the narrow gauge coaches on other lines. 



SUBURBAN HOMES. » 

Low Mates of Commutation. The inducements offered to commuters 
by the Erie Railway Company, have been so liberal in comparison 
with the oppressive rates charged by most of the lines running out of 
New York City, as to add greatly to the local popularity of the road.. 
For particulars, the reader is referred to the commutation tariff at 
the beginning of the book . 

Natural Advantages. There is no more lovely or fertile country 
about New York, than the historic region through which the Eastern 
Division of the Erie winds its course. All varieties of productive indus- 
try here find a busy exemplification. Fruit-growing, stock-raising, 
mining and manufactures, each in turn are brought to the traveler's 
mind as for the first time he is whizzed along over the landscape 
The soil is rich and productive, the climate beautiful, the air pure, 
and the scenery at some points as lovely as any that ever made, 
Switzerland famous. 

Church and School Facilities. It will be observed, in a perusal of 
this work, that there is scarcely a village or town mentioned herein, 
that does not possess one or more churches and public schools. Facili- 
ties for religious and intellectual training, therefore, are not neglected 
in Suburban Homes. 

But, reader, the proof of the pudding is the eating of it. Why 
should we stand talking of this matter? Let us start and have a 
ride over the road, and see it for ourselves. Come — the whistle is 
blowing; we had better be aboard; there, the bell rings, the great 
engine puffs, and away we go from the Depot, through a wide wilder- 
ness of tracks, intersecting each other, and branching away in 
switches, and curves, and sidings in all directions. 

Ah 1 these seats are comfortable. That's where the advantage ot 
the Broad Gauge comes in, you know. Look ! there is the tunnel, a 
mile or more in length, cut through the solid rock of Bergen Hill- 
There are houses and flower-gardens, and deep wells and horse-cars 
far above our heads as we whiz along in the dark. 
Ah ! here we come to the Hackensack Bridge, and see 1 beyond there 



10 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

h the junction wliere the Hackensack Branch road diverges. Of that 
hereafter. For the present, our destination is straight ahead. Do you 
see that bright sunnj hillside, stretching away on both sides of the 
track in advance of us? There is where we shall make our first stop. 
Here we are at 

RUTHERFORD PARK, 

formerly known as Boiling Spring, and distant ten miles (or forty min- 
utes' ride) from Chambers or Twenty-Third St, Depot. A neat and 
tasteful depot, erected at a cost of $6,000, and at the joint expense of 
the company and the citizens, welcomes the visitor alighting from 
the train. Here daily twenty-nine trains pass — fifteen for, and 
fourteen from, the city— and at any hour between daylight and 
dark the depot is a scene of busy life. The growth of population 
and business here has been astonishing. A few years ago, and this 
hillside, now dotted with churches aud stores and villas, was a quiet 
little hamlet, which the whizzing trains were wont to pass unnoticed. 
But, to-day, behold a rapidly growing and a prosperous town, stretch, 
ing away on both sides of the railway track, to Carlstadt on the 
north, and the Passaic River on the south, intersected by broad well- 
graded avenues, with plank walks at the side, and adorned by resi- 
dences, churches, and public buildings, which, in architectural taste 
and finish, would be a credit to any modern city. 

Rutherford Park is situated upon an elevated rolling ridge from 
100 to 150 feet above tidewater, its soil is rich and easily cultivated, 
and the water which bubbles out on both sides of the ridge is claimed 
by chemical analysis to be of the highest standard of purity. 

From the Depot three fine boulevards. Orient Way, Union Avenue 
and Park Avenue, stretch away as radii, the latter extending directly 
through to the bank of the Passaic, which at this point is navigable 
for vessels of two or three hundred tons. By this means heavy sup- 
plies, such as coal and lumber, can be landed at the village ; with the 
lesser articles of daily use, butchers, grocers, bakers and icemen call 
at the door. 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 



11 



WJLLO W 



S TRUUT 



X 



\V0 Oiy \ STJiHET 

1^1 



i:lm street 








MAPLE^ 






" J/Y PL ACS 



Yt-n' PZulCB 



B B B O D E g/ 





a 









Sec description of property, page VI. 



1% SUBURBAN HOMES. 

The drives and rambles in and about the Park embrace many scenes 
of interest and beauty. From the summit of Mount Rutherford, an 
entrancing panorama meets the eye. To the South and West, the 
Orange Hills loom up, blue and misty in the distance, while nearer, the 
spires and roofs of Newark gleam in the morning sun. Directly be- 
neath, the beautiful Passaic on the one side wanders through its shaded 
banks, past groves and parks and quiet homes, and on the other the 
Hackensack, winding like a silver thread through the wide waste of 
meadows, leads the eye to the distant Bays of Newark" and New York, 
the villa-dotted hills of Staten and Long Island, and a glimpse of the 
sea beyond. To the north may be seen Passaic, Carlstadt, and Hacken- 
sack, and beyond, the Palisades sloping inward to the sea of green. 
Within a radius of six miles are the cities of Newark and Paterson, 
Llewellyn-Park, Orange, Bloomfield, Montclair, Passaic, Belleville, 
Hackensack, Franklin, and Lodi, all thriving places. But the visitor 
need not go beyond the limits of the village itself in search either 
of a.pleasant ramble, or of material for admiration. Here and there 
are residences, owned and occupied by New York business men ; superb 
in finish, with conservatories, hot-houses and nurseries, and surrounded 
by the highest degree of cultivation. There are four churches, an 
Episcopal, a Baptist, and two Presbyterian, one of the latter of which^ 
built of stone, was constructed at a cost of $15,000. There are two 
public and three private schools, one of the former occupying a fine 

two-story building erected by the enterprise of the citizens. 

The diagram on the precediug page calJs the readers attention to a 

tract known as " The yhelter," owned by F. W. Tomkins, Esq., of 

the j^. Y. Observer, and comprising some three hundred choice 

building plots in as good a location as can be found in Rutherfurd 

Park, with every variety of elevation, rich soil, fine shade, clear 

spring water, commanding scenery, restricted against nuisance, and 

that too within easy distiance of th« depot, stores, schools and 

churches. A visit to and inspection of " The Shelter " will repay 

one undertaking it. No money is required from purchasers wishing to 

build ; no interst from those co-operating in improvements, whila 

hi\ purchasers can pay on the small instalment plan. 



8DBUKBAN HOMES. 13 

WEST RtJTHERFURD, (formerly Santiago Park.) 

While improvement and development are everywhere the order of 
the day in New Jersey, yet it may be truly said at no point are their 
influences more strikingly apparent than here ; for emerging from 
the long deep cutting in the ridge, dividing the Hackensack and 
Passaic Valleys, the traveler suddenly looks out upon a wide and 
beautiful plateau, sheltered on the east by the hillside and sloping 
gently westward to the brink of the beautiful Passaic River. Here 
the enterprise of capital and the skill of the engineer have combined 
to develope a tract possessing in itself all the most desirable natural 
characteristics for the site of a charming suburban city, and offering 
to the business man a convenient and attractive home. For since 
our last edition, the development of this valuable property has been 
so rapidly conducted, that an entire division of it is now ready for 
the market. The system of drainage has heen perfected throughout, 
grading has been conducted by a master hand, and broad avenues 
lined with good sidewalks and shade trees t^re being opened through 
the property. One of these, Grand Avenue, 100 feet wide, will pass be- 
neath the railway embankment, and tlience connect with the Passaic 
Turnpike bridge just above, while another, Riverside Avenue, which, 
skirting the river, also extends through the entire length of the 
grounds, opens, in connection with its namesake in Rutherfurd 
Park, a continuous avenue to Newark, and forms one of the most at- 
tractive drives in the State. By these improvements* reaiderrs fortu- 
nate enough to secura homes at this point are insuted easy access to 
the churches, schools, markets and stores of both Rutherfurd Park 
and Passaic, while distant from Wall Street by only 'orty minutes 
ride, or no further than the Fifth Avenue Horel. Moreover, the 
entire property will be restricted against nuisances, it being the 
owners' intention to render it an especially select and desirable subur- 
ban resort. The Hotel, which has been put in perfect repair through^ 



* A b'irige i^ also about bein? erected ar,ro«« tho Paseair, HirccUy in front of 
the piopeny, thus vLiiually ljr.ogiu«: It within, ihu growiu„' town of raueuic. 



14 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

JTTRilCTIVE HOMES- REJSONIlllf PRICES, 
Cottage and TiUa Plots 

AT 

WEST 
EUTHEEPUm, 

FORMERLY SANTIAGO PARK, 

And distant from two to ten minutes from the Depot, and 

ONLY FORTY MINUTES PROM WALL ST., 

This valuable and attractive property is this season, for the first 
time placed upon the market, and is offered for sale only to parties 
who will build desirable residences. 

Is is unequaled by any other property near New York, for 

It is restricted against everything objectionable, has advantages of 
schools, churches, and cultivated society. 

The streets and lots are well graded, trees planted and main side 
walks laid at expense of proprietors. 

Extra inducements offered parties who desire to erect handsome 
and tasteful residences, or good block of stores adjacent to station. 
Call on, or address 

A. G. DAR\VIN, 

^o* 10 Pine Street^ 

NEW YORK CITY. 



SUBUBBAN HOMES. |«^ 

out, will also be opened under the auspices of an experienced 
manager early in the season, and will be conducted upon a scale 
calculated to place it among the most convenient and recherche of 
out of town summer resorts lor business men, who desire to gite at 
tention to their business during the warm season and be within easy 
traveling distance of their families. 

This property has quite a history of its own, the whole of it 
having until a lew years ago, belonged to the Holzman family, into 
whose possession, as shown by title deeds now on record, it came 
from one of the old time " Lord Proprietors " of New Jersey, to whom 
it was granted in 1627. 

A quarter of a mile further, brings us to 

PASSAIC BRIDGE, 

a massive structure spanning the river, and at the western end of 
which is the station building. The scene at this point is extremely 
picturesque ; from the high embankment, running along on a level 
with the tree-tops, one looks down upon the river behind him, skirted 
by a broad, well-graded avenue, to which the arriving passenger de- 
scends by a long stairway. Peeping out here and there from amid the 
trees are windows, colonnades and turrets, parts evidently of elegant 
and comfortable residences, modeled in exquisite styles of architecture, 
varying from the Gothic to the Chinese, while neat boat and bath 
houses upon the river front of each denote the refined tastes of the 
proprietors. Looking up the track on the lelt hand, one sees a rising 
ground, comprising many eligible building sites, fronting upon streets 
recently opened through, from Passaic proper, to the river. The 
conveniences of a residence here are not to be passed unnoticed. 
Every eastward bound train stops before crossing the bridge, thus 
affording no less than eighteen trains from this point to New 1 ork 
daily, while on the other hand, every train from the city stops either 
ftt this or the other side of the bridge, which is easily crossed by a 



iO ^CBUKBAI^ HOMES. 

plank foot-patli. A handsome and commodious depot has been 
erected by the company at this point, in order to accommodate 
the growing travel from this portion (formerly known as Aquack. 
ononck) of the rapidly increasing and prosperous incorporated village 
oi 

PASSAIC, 

twelve miles from New York, and which, next to Paterson, is the 
most important point on the New Jersey line of the road. Five years 
ago the population was estimated at 1,200 ; to-day it is over 5,000, 
and is increasing with a rapidity which promises yet to make the place 
a formidable rival to its thriving neighbors, Paterson and Newark. 
The public spirit characterizing its citizens is unmistakably evidenced 
on all sides. The streets are from sixty to one hundred feet wide, well 
graded and planted with shade trees, the sidewalks are planked or 
flagged, the houses are of modern build, and at a reasonable distance 
apart ; the stores are. many of them, of brick, large enough and 
handsome enough to do credit to even some of our city avenues, and 
the entire village presents an aspect of thrift, neatness and pros- 
perity ; it covers a large extent of ground, and, viewed from Paulison 
Heights, would, by the casual observer be adjudged a place of twice 
Its present population. Much of its growth is due to its large manu- 
facturing interests. The Dundee Manufacturing Company, an incor- 
porated association, by damming the river two miles above, furnish a 
fine water power, by which the shoddy mills of Waterhouse Brothers, 
& J, Brische, the bleachery of Jno. Watson & Sons, the Iron Foundry 
of Brandt, Post & Dorn. and the Print Works of Reed & Barry, are 
run. Adjoining these factories are grounds owned by the respective 
mill-owners, who have erected upon them rows of commodious cot- 
tages for the occupation of their employes, thus establishing about 
each scene of daily labor a little colony of those who from that labor 
derive their daily support. 

The school facilities of Passaic are upon a scale commensurate with 
the enterprise of its citizens. There is a new and ole<^ant public 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 17 

school building, three stories high, used both as a Grammar and 
Primary School, and erected at a cost of $30,000, and there are also 
four private schools, in two of which the higher branches are taught. 
There are seven churches, oae Episcopal, one Roman Catholic, one 
Baptist, one Methodist, one North Reformed, one Dutch Reformed, 
and one " Seceded True Reformed " Dutch, the latter church occupy- 
ing that perfect specimen of a village churchyard, as pictured in 
Gray's Elegy, which the railway track skirts at the entrance to the 
village. Comfortable rectories are attached to each church, and the 
congregations are, without exception, reported in flourishing condi- 
tion. Two weekly newspapers are published. Police and Fire De- 
partments are organized, and the streets and buildings are lighted with 
gas. One hundred new dwellings have been erected in Passaic during 
the past year. 

To the left of the railway are " the Heights," where four years ago 
only six houses could be counted, but where now loom up scores of 
stately edifices, vying with each other for the beholder's admiration. 
The view from the Heights is unsurpassed in beauty. To the north- 
west, Paterson and the beautiful Ramapo valley beyond, further 
south the Orange Hills stretching away into the distance, to the 
east the winding Passaic and the hills of Bergen, and immediately 
beneath, the village, hiding like a coy maiden, under its veil of green, 
all combine to enchant the beholder, and woo him to pass the 
remainder of his days in a spot so favored. 

In other natural advantages, too, Passaic abounds. Well-water is 
plentiful — the air is invigorating and healthful, and the surrounding 
country roads offer delightful drives, whether along the Old Plank 
Road with its antiquated mile and sign posts, to Paterson, the Weasel 
Road, to Dundee Lake, the River road to Newark, or over the Bergen 
Hills to Lodi and Hackensack. The frequent communication with 
New York (fifteen trains each way daily) has greatly contributed to 
attracting residents hitlier from the great city. Passaic is, to a great 
extent, inhabited by New York business men, who find their ride of 
forty-fiv6 minutes in comfortable cars each way no inconvenience or 
obstucie. 



18 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

Within a radius ot a half mile from the depot, there are oflFered at 
low rates three or four hundred acres of improved laud for building, 
purposes, the price per lot varying from $250 to $1,000, and per acre 
from $2,000 to $5,000. 

Passing on from Passaic station through a level meadow land^^ 
interspersed here and there with old farm houses and more modern 
dwellings, we come to 

HARRISON STREET, 

a station building, erected near the upper line of the village, by the 
owners of the adjacent property. Not long ago the traveler, in 
passing this point, might have imagined himself anywhere but in 
the vicinity ot a thriving village. Fields and fences, and two or three 
old-fashioned Jersey mansions, with their barns and sheds and out- 
houses about them, alone met his eye ; but mark what a rapid 
change time has wrought. Fine, broad and well graded avenues 
crossing the track at right angles, and running straight as a die up 
the hillside on the one hand, and through to the Passaic river on the 
other ; a park, already attractive in its surroundings ; long lines of 
young shade trees, which, in their older growth, when this generation 
has gone, will cast their leafy shadows upon the streets of a busy 
city ; rows of exquisite cottages, equidistant, and each surrounded by 
Its liower-garden ; and here and there stately structures looming up 
beyond, all testify, more plainly than words can, how eager and how 
general has become the demand among New Yorkers for Suburban 
Homes. 
One mile further on, we come to 

CLIFTON. 

The village of Clifton, located between the manufacturing cities 
of Passaic and Paterson, is within the circle of the 14 mile radius 
from the City Hall, New York ; or, in railway parlance, 51* minutes 
from the foot of Chambers Street, with nine trains daily each way. 



SUBURBAN HOMES. * 19 

Beside liaving its own Post-oflBce, Church and School, it is within 
easy walking distance of the kindred establishments of its eldej sister, 
the town of Passaic. Not only in Clifton alone, but all about its 
neighborhood, are beautiful drives and pleasant resorts, among which 
is the drive over the Weasel Road to Arlington Heights and Dundee 
Lake ; the latter, a popular resort for boating and fishing, as well as 
its summer regattas. 

To the eastward of the railroad track, and fronting upon what is 
known as the " Weasel Road," about five hundred yards from the 
depot, stands a time-honored relic of days gone by, an old-fashioned 
stone mansion reared a century and a half ago. This quaint struc- 
ture possesses a rare interest for the anticjuarian, not only on account 
of its elbow roof, its wainscoted walls and ceilings, its carved an^ 
tiled chimney places, contrasting so strangely with the conveniences 

of more modern days, but from the fact that, during General W^ash- 
ington's eventful campaign in Northern New Jersey, he found hera, 
^pr a brief period, a secure retreat, and that from this doorstep the 
pproach of the pickets of the British advance guard was first dis- 
covered. 

A quarter of a mile beyond Clifton, we pass through a deep cut in 
the sandstone rock, and, in turn emerging therefrom, pass 

ARLINGTON 

Depot, a neat and ornamental structure erected during the past year, 
for the convenience of future residents of the adjacent tract. This 
tract, located between the Erie Railway and the Passaic River, Is high 
and healthful, commands a charming view of the adjacent county on 
all sides- 

A ride of another three-quarters of a mile, brinpfs us to the 
thriving village of 

LAKE VIEW, 
fifteen miles (fifty-four minutes ride) from New York, and connected 



20 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

*i?itli the Metropolis by nine trains each way daily. Within five 
minutes ride of the Paterson Depot, itself a suburb within the cor- 
poration limits, and connected with the business centre ol that city 
by the Paterson and Passaic horse railroad, this village oflfers, in 
the beauty and healthfulness of its situation, and the enterprise of 
its projectors, great inducements to the seeker after a Suburban 
Home. The grounds slope gently upward from the depot to the 
height of about one hundred feet, in a distance of half or three 
quarters of a mile, until at their snmmit one looks down upon a wide 
and varied landscape, embracmg the shaded current of the Passaic 
and the fertile valley of the Paramus, hemmed in on the South by 
Weehawken Heights and the northerly slope of the Palisades, on the 
east by the Highlands overlooking the village of Hackensack, and on 
the north by the wild hills of the Ramapo. Placid upon the bosom 
of the scene, lies Dundee Lake, giving the place its name, and famous 
for its fishing, boating, bathing and skating facilities, while further to 
the right nestles, among hill and dale along the river bank, the 
village of Passaic. Turning, we see in the west. Garret Rock and the 
Preakness Mountains, " rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun," stand- 
ing as grim and hoary sentinels over the busy clattering town at their 
feet. 

Four years ago, a number of far-seeing and enterprising capitalists 
of Paterson, in anticipation of the increasing demand for Suburban 
Homes, formed themselves into a land improvement and build lag 
company, purchased here an entire tract comprising over o.OOO ciiv 
lots, opened and graded a number of streets and avenues, (among 
■which may be mentioned Crooks Avenue, one hundred feet in width, 
extending from Garret Rock on the west, to Dundee Lake on the 
east,) planted shade trees, put down sidewalks, erected from twenty 
to thirty dwellings, a commodious store and an elegant depot, and are 
now rewarded by the assurance that they have added a prosperous 
ward, (the Ninth) to the adjacent city. 

The advertisement of Mr. James Simmons, published elsewhere, 
calls attention to some desirable property which he offers for 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 31 

a3XJP<Jri>3E3E3 TL,J^TS^1E3 

AND 

VIX.LA. FLOTS !I 

SOO XjOTS, 

Fronting on Dundee and Lake View Avenues, and particularly desirable on 
account of their high elevation, commanding a most magnificent view of the 
surroundings. 

This entire property is unsurpassed in all its beautiful attractions, for de- 
lightful private residences, being within a few minutes' disiance of the Lake 
View and Clifton Stations of the Erie Railway and the Paterson Horse Kailroad 
cars. 

I AI?I SELLING AT VERY LOW PRICES. 

Maps, and particulars, at my office, 19 PRINCE STREET, PATERSON, 

JAMES SIMMONS. 

sale, fronting on Dundee Lake, and tlie reader will find it to his ad- 
vantage to give the offer favorable attention. 

Before us, as we leave Lake View, we can see the chimneys, spires, 
and house-tops, standing out in relief against the sky, and to the left, 
the beetling cliffs of Garret Rock, seen hitherto only from a distance 
loom high above the houses built up to their very base. Now we 
pass Madison Park, where a neat depot, not yet in use, has been 
erected for the convenience of future residents. Here too on 
the left, a high embankment diverging obliquely from the main track, 
marks the line of the Paterson, Newark and New York Railroad ; 
and now we see on either side houses, foundries, streets, sidewalks, 
shade-trees, churches and stores; the train slackens its speed, the 
whistle blows, and the brakeman, opening the door, calls out, 

PATERSON. 
The visitor, upon alighting, can form but little estimate of the 
extent or attractiveness of the city. The smoky chimneys, the 
dreary waste of railway track stretching away in both directions, the 
irregular rows of frame houses, and the vacant lots generously inter, 
epersed here and there, are but poor indications of the activity and 
beauty about and beyond them. Two massive edifices, the Dale Mills 



22 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

and tlie Watson Manufacturing Co.'s Works, standing directly op- 
posite and in the rear of the depot, are, however, worthy of admiration, 
and prepare the visitor's mind for finding here a lively manufacturing 
city. And such indeed it is 1 for from daylight to dark, during six 
long days in each week, thousands of its inhabitants, male and 
female, old and young, gain their livelihood amid the incessant clat- 
ter of spindles, the noiseless whirr of machinery, the roaring of the 
furnace fires, or the sharp ringing strokes of the hammer and anvil. 
For nature has endowed this locality with opportunities which the 
inventive genius and perseverance of man have developed into an 
enduring source of wealth. The Great and Little Falls of the Passaic 
jiver, the former of which are also unsurpassed in beauty of sur- 
roundings, furnish at this point a water power equal in the one case 
to two hundred and forty-seven, and in the other to seventy-eight 
undershot wheels. This fact it was which induced Alexander 
Hamilton to locate here, in preference to any other point, the " Society 
for establishing Useful Manufactures," an incorporated association* 
organized in the Middle States, mainly by his own efforts, and pos- 
sessing authority to hold a capital stock of one million, and real 
estate to the value of four millions of dollars. The act of incorpora- 
tion was signed in November, 1791, by the then Governor Paterson, 
in whose honor the place was subsequently given its name. The 
Society early turned its attention to cotton, silk and tobacco manu- 
factures, its cotton mill having been the first of its kind west of the 
Hudson and the second on the continent, and the first cotton yarn 
spun in New Jersey was made in Paterson in 1793, the mill machin. 
ery being driven by oxen. 

The manufacture of silks has become one of the most important 
branches of industry in Paterson, sewing silk and machine twist 
being the kinds principally produced. Superior woven fabrics have 
been, however, produced in the mills of Mr. John Ryle, late Mayo> 
of the city, whence came the large and beautiful silk flag that waved 
over the dome of the New York Crystal Palace ; more than one 
premium on Paterson silks attests the success here attending this 
branch of industry. 



tJUIJUIlUAN HOMES. 23 

The " Society for establishiug Useful Manufactures" still largely 
■icontrols the industrial interests of the city, though no longer directly 
■engaged in manufacturing. In 179G, five years after ita organization, 
it^experienced severe reverses, hut in 1802 revived again, [and in 1814 
was re-organized under the auspices of Mr. Roswell L. Colt, son ot 
its first superintendent, and a near relative of Col. Samuel Colt, 
whose famous pistol factory had its origin in Paterson, in a stone mill 
known as the " Gun Factory." The Roswell House, a noble old 
time building, surrounded by a lordly domain, and known as the Col^ 
family mansion, may be seen in the very heart of the city, and is oc- 
cupied by the present Superintendent of the Society, Mr. De Qrasse 
B. Fowler. 

The locomt)tive works of Paterson, the Grant, the Rogers and the 
Danforth works, furnish the country with an average of one locomo. 
tive per day, over three hundred having been shipped hence during 
each of tlie years 1869 and 1870. The famous silver-mounted and 
polislied locomotive " America,"whicli a writer has spoken of as being 
^'tlie most majestic single contribution to the Paris Exposition," was 
sent over the Atlantic by the late Mr. Grant, of the Grant Works, at 
an immense cost, to contest (and successfully) the prize of merit with 
the astonished builders and mechanics of the old World. 

But it is as a desirable 
place of residence for New York business men that it becomes our 
province to make its superior claims apparent. And in this respect, the 
reader will understand that, in changing his place of residence from 
New York to Paterson, he does not by any means remove to the 
country ; he simply abandons great, noisy, troublous Gotham, with 
its bleak and inhospitable brick and stone walls and pavements, for a 
home in some quiet, retired shaded street, in a city which, numbering 
Dearly forty thousand inhabitants, is, in regard to the elegance, com- 
fort and beauty of its churches and residences, unequaled within an 
hour's ride of New York ; he exchanges one city for another, but in 
that exchange, gains clean streets, pure healthful air and water, lovely 
drives and walks, church, school and other facilities of the beet, and 
All within as easy access of Wall Street or the Park, as Avould be a 
^residence in Sixtieth Street. 



24 



SUBXJKBAN HOMES. 




SUBURBAN HOMES. 25 

The rambles and drives about Paterson include many charming 
views and points of interest. On the banks of the Passaic, near 
Dundee Lake, is the beautiful Cedar Lawn Cemetery, while over- 
looking, and almost directly within the city, are the famed Passaio 
Falls, an admirable decription of which we quote from an articlo 
entitled " Paterson, its Works and W^ys," written and published 
some time ago by a prominent citizen.* 

" The Great Falls of the Passaic are not only almost unmatched for picturesque 
Burroundings, but almost unique in their configuration, having but one parallel, 
BO far as known, 'on the globe, and that is the great fall of the Mosi-oa-tunya, 
"Sounding Smoke," or Victoria Palls, on the Zambesi River, in Africa, which 
although vastly exceeding the Passaic cataract in height and volume, is so exactly 
its counterpart in aU essential features, that a bird's eye view of the one, with di- 
mensions not given, might be readily mistaken for the other. The main peculi- 
arity consists in the fact that, in both cases, the river leaps into a chasm of the 
rock, and, to an observer from up-stream, seems to disappear. Its bed below the 
falls forms an acute angle with that above, passing between tremendous walls of 
rock, sheer and smooth from summit to base in a narrow, clean-cut rift, through 
which the pent-up boiling current is shot with tremendous velocity, clear out Into 
an elbow of the rock, cut as squarely as if by a mason's nicest art, and thence 
sharply turned back upon itself, churned and ciu-dled into a mass of cottony 
flakes, which, first slowly circling about, as if resting, dart away to make the 
rapid descent over the rocky bed of the stream below. The course of the river at 
the falls is very much likt the letter Z, the top arm reprasenting the stream 
above, the inclined down-stroke the chasm into which it plunges, and the lower 
arm the course the current takes after passing out of the angle referred to above. 
The height of the fall is seventy-five feet. It varies very much in grandeur, at 
times, when the stream is low, a few silver threads only fluttering over the rock, 
80 largely does the raceway draw upon the volume of the river. But always in the 
epring, and even after copious rain, the cataract is grand to behold, and some* 
times fearfully so. But the tremendous chasm of the cliffs, most awful when the 
water is low in the stream, is always, and always must be, a feature that the 
lover of the picturesque will study with admiration and interest. Over the 
chasm Into which the river pours, a slender bridge has been thrown by the liber- 
ality and public spirit of Mr. John Ryle, the eminent silk manufacturer, who owns 
the grounds around the falls, which hav« been embellished by him at a considerable 
cost, and are always free to the public. From this bridge the best view of the cata. 



♦The writer takes occasion to acknowledge ranch other valuable information 
derived from this eouree, and ucon,j«-ated in his description of Paterson. 



26 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

ract ie obtained. The " Valley of the Rocks," below the cataract, is also worth 
visiting, as are also the "Little Falls," three or foar miles above, which, were it 
not for the vicinity of their more majestic neighbor, would have a celebrity which 
would attract visitors from afar." 

Patereon contains over thirty cburclies, embracing Presbyterian, 
Episcopalian, Metbodist, Primitive Metbodist, Reformed, Baptist, Con- 
gregational, United Presbyterian, Roman Catbolic, Lutberan, Holland, 
Swedenborgian, German-Presbyterian, Jewisb, etc. Its scbools, botb 
public and private, are numerous and well conducted, its Orphan Asy- 
lum is a splendid public cbarity, its stores abound in the costliest and 
richest wares, and its markets, public and private, are unsurpassed for 
variety, excellence and cheapness. Six horse railroads, and efficient 
Police and Fire Departments, are among the benefits enjoyed, while a 
thorough system of sewerage, a rich dry surface soil, and an atmo- 
sphere to which sea fogs, chills and mosquitoes are strangers, combine 
to render it most attractive as a place of residence. Thirty trains 
connect daily each way with the Metropolis. 

Paterson is also a i)romment lumber mart, and the facilities for 
building are consequently proportionally enhanced. Extensive stone 
quarries and brick yards are, moreover, close at hand. 

THE EAST SIDE. 

The modern Paterson, lying eastward of the railway, on the high 
grounds adjacent to Broadway and Willis Streets, and possessing, 
with the older neighborhoods, all the facilities, such as gas, water, 
and horse cars, that are enjoyed by denizens of large cities, is an 
attractive and delightful locality, and compares favorably in architec- 
tural and natural beauty with any city in New Jersey, or even in the 
country. Broadway, intersecting it from west to east, is a fine avenue 
lined with the residences of wealthier inhabitants. The aim of 
property -holders seems to be to encourage a good class of people to 
settle with them. With those who will be an acquisition to the 
community, they are willing to deal on exceedingly liberal terms. 
Low rates, a portion in cash down, and long time for the balance, are 
the inducements generally offered to good, bona-fide purchasers. About 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 27 

two thousand acres, principally in the eastern and northern portions of 
the city, are in the market, at an average price of $600 per lot, and 
$1,500 per acre for improved, and $200 per acre for unimproved. 
Terms one-third cash, balance on bond and mortgage for three or five 
jears. Land can be had entirely on bond and mortgage, if parties 
agree to build at once. 

Two or two and a half story houses, containing from sii to eight 
rooms, with two lots, can be had for from $3,500 to $7,000, in pleasant 
localities, and on very easy terms ; payment being made if desired on 
the instalment plan, — i. e., by paying a certain portion of the purchase 
money each month, during a period of two or three yeare. 

RIVERSIDE. 

In the north eastern section or Third Ward of the city of Paterson, 
& delightfully located tract known as Riverside, and comprising some 
three thousand building lots, has attained a deserved popularity 
among purchasers of real estate, on account of its rich soil, high 
ground, healthful ness, scenery, and convenience of location as well as 
fiurroundings. A depot has been located here, trains stop daily, and 
the horse cars of the Paterson and Little Falls Horse R. R. Co., fur- 
nish frequent and easy communication with the central portions ot 
the city. The property is in the hands of enterprising capitalists, 
who offer it to responsible purchasers at terms similar to those offered 
on the East side. 

Crossing the Passaic for the second time, from the trackway, run- 
ning along an elevated ridge, we gain a charming view of the open 
country beyond, sinking here into a valley, rising there in a hillside, 
and dotted all over with indication of agricultural wealth. Over- 
looking this scene, is located the depot of 

HAWTHORNE, 
nineteen miles (sixty-one minutes ride) from New York, two miles 



28 SUBUJiBAN HOME3. 

from Paterson, and accessible daily by four trains each way. At this 
point, (the crossing of the Midland Railway,) many improvements 
have been made ; a fine boulevard, known as Fifth Avenue, has been 
opened to the summit* of the hill on the right, which commands an ex- 
tensive view of the adjacent country, and other streets and avenues 
are also being graded under the direction of property owners. Lots 
or plots, fronting upon avenues already opened or projected, are now 
offered for sale to bona-fide settlers, at from $100 to $400 per lot (50x300 
feet), and $500 per acre improved, and from $100 to $300 unimproved. 
A healthful, breezy atmosphere, fine spring water in abundance, a 
good fruit and garden soil, and well-kept public roads are among 
the other inducements offered to purchasers. The District schools are 
close at hand, a flour and a woolen mill are in operation, and a church 
edifice is projected. The population is estimated at about 300. 

Thus far, since leaving the Jersey meadows, we have been travers- 
ing the section watered by the Passaic river, but now, leaving that pic- 
turesque stream behind, we pass northwestward through a fine rolling 
country to the important village of 

PtIDGEWOOD, 

twenty-two miles (an hour and a quarter's ride) from New York, and 
accessible daily by nine trains from, and seven trains to the Metropolis. 
Great interest is manifested in developing the natural resources of this 
place, which is the outlet for the manufactures and produce of a rich 
surrounding country, b'treets are laid out, well graded, and of good 
width, and close at hand are a well kept hotel, several stores, butch- 
er, baker and barber shops, and coal and lumber yards, (the latter 
supplied direct from the forest and saw mills of Pennsylvania) all 
bearing testimony to a stage of progress. A few steps to the east- 
ward bring the observer to a view of the well-known fertile Pararous 
Valley, about three miles wide and four miles long, walled in by 
thickly wooded hills affording a genial shelter to well cultivated 
farms^ each, with its substantial dwelling and large barn, possessing 
an air of solid wealth and plenty. Here, in this peaceful vale, 



SUBUIiBAN HOMES. 29 

** stretching in pensive quietness between " the sombre heights on 
either side, are scores of happy homes to which the turmoil and con- 
fusion of city life have never penetrated. In such a spot as this 
might the pastoral poet of old, reclining under the beach tree shade, 
have made the woods vocal at noonday with the notes of his reed, in 
praise of the charms of his rusiic sweetheart Amaryllis. Surely, to 
a man of moderate leisure, no more lovely or attractive location than 
this within twentj miles of the great city can present itself. Within 
half a mile of the station two hundred acres of improved land may 
be purchased by the lot, at from $300 to $1,000. Within a radius of 
two miles, dwells a population of about fifteen hundred, nine-tenths 
of whom are well-to-do independent people, living comfortably, even 
elegantly, and upon the very fat of the land. There are Methodist, 
Dutch Reformed, Episcopal, and Roman Catholic churches, while in 
regard to educational facilities, the Ridgewood Academy, located a 
half mile from the depot, offers instruction in both the higher and 
lovrer branches, and several district schools afford opportunities as 
good as the average. A considerable number of young people from 
Ridgewood also attend school in Paterson or New York, going and 
returning daily by railway, the special commutation or " scholar's 
tickets" being offered by the Erie Company at moderate rates. 
Many first-class buildings have been erected during the past year, in- 
Ciuding^ a new and handsome depot. Among the public buildings 
also are two large halls used for fairs, concerts or public meetings, 
and a number of new residences are also in progress. The drives 
around the vicinity of Ridgewood abound in interest. Two miles 
distant is the thriving manufacturing village of Godwinsville, a fine 
view of which, it may here be remarked, is to be obtained from the 
hill, just west of the depot. 

As we leave this interesting spot, the road winds close to the moun- 
tain on the one side, and on the other is supported by a high embank- 
ment, overlooking some elegant villas below ; then, we are whirled 
through a heavy cutting of red sandstone, cross a stupendous arch or 
culvert of solid masonry, from the dizzy height of which we look 
down upon a pretty picture of a stream, a dam, a waterfall, and the 



30 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

roof of a factory half hidden by the tree tops^ and, before we have 
ceased our exclamations of delight at the scene, find ourselves at 

HOHOKUS, 

twenty-iour miles from New York, (anhour and twenty minutes ride) 
and accessible daily by seven trains each way. 

Hohokus is unquestionably one of the most picturesque and attrac- 
tive spots within easy reach of the great Metropolis. The Hohokus 
River, a pure mountain stream, affords water power for two large 
cotton mills on either side of the station, and the waters passing far 
beneath the heavy granite arch of the railway bridge, are over- 
shadowed by hills crowned with noble trees. 

The station lies on the western edge of the Saddle River Valley, long 
known as the " the fruit region," and noted for its rare loveliness of 
landscape, in whose quiet retreats are gathered a large number of fine 
country seats. Here is Joe Jefferson's " Paradise " home ; here the 
charming " Terraces " of Mrs. Victor, the novelist ; here the Old 
Manor House, wherein Aaron Burr wooed and wed the widow Pro- 
vost ; here the elegant villas of J. H. Rutter, J. J. Zabriskie, W. 
B. Ku Kuck, Wm. Libby, and others ; here the historic Paramus 
Church and its noble parsonage, a fine Methodist Church, a large 
Roman Catholic Church, a Lutheran Church, and a beautiful private 
school house. Lands are yet held to a considerable degree in large 
bodies, but can be purchased at from |250 to $500 per acre, according 
to location. 

For its healthfulness, absolute freedom from mosquitoes and mala- 
rial influences, its great beauty, its accessibility, the vicinity of Ho- 
hokus offers unequaled advantages to those seeking a country home. 

Two miles further on, a distance of twenty-six miles from the city, 
we come to 

ALLENDALE, 

reached by a ride of an hour and twenty-five minutes, and having the 
advantage of seven trains each way daily. The population, within 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 31 

the radius of a mile, numbers between two and three hundred, many 
of whom are engaged in fruit raising, and with success, for the 
crop of apples, peaches and strawberries annually shipped hence to 
New York is immense. There is a public school, and the Methodist 
aud Lutheran conprregations have church edifices centrally located. 
The property is generally owned by rich settlers, who evince but 
little desire to sell, but still there are one hundred or more lots to be 
had (measuring 50x100 feet) at $150 and $200, and farming land can 
be purchased at from $200 to $500 per acre 

RAMSEYS, 
two miles further on, is also the center of a thrifty fruit-growing sec, 
tion. It is distant from New York twenty-eight miles (a ride of an 
hour and a haJf,) and in common with the other stations along this 
portion of the line, is reached by seven trains each way daily. To 
the visitor it has the appearance of a small thriving village, the 
population numbering about five hundred, within the radius of a 
mile. In the village proper there are three churches, a newly con- 
structed school house and public hall, two hotels, a market house* 
three stores, a coal and lumber yard, a carriage and sleigh manufactory, 
and a tannery. More strawberries are sent from this point than from 
any other. During a single day in the summer of 1869, one hundred 
and ten thousand baskets, or one hundred and eighteen wagon loads, 
were shipped hence to New York. 

The ground in the immediate vicinity of the station is dry and 
well adapted for building purposes, and here a number of choice lots 
(50x100 feet,) sell at prices varying from $75 to $300. Within a half 
mile circuit, about three hundred acres of available land are offered at 
from $60 to $200 per acre. 

As we resume our ride, the appearance of the country gradually 
improves until two miles further on, the train stops at 

MAHWAH, 
as yet a small settlement, though pleasantly situated, and holding 
out many inducements to the lover of country life. The population, 



S2 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

within a mile of tlie depot, is estimated at over two hundred, and in 
the neighborhood are a public and private school, and churches of 
th.e Methodist, Reformed, Episcopal and Lutheran denominations. 

A new depot has very recently been erected at this point 
Lots may be bought close to the depot, at $200 each, while within a 
mile the rates per acre vary between $200 and $300. 

Another ride of two miles brings us to 

SUFFERN, 

a village of some importance, as being the junction point of the Erie 
proper, (as originally constructed westward from Piermont on the 
Hudson,) with the Union railroad, over which, together with the Pat- 
erson and Ramapo, and New York and Paterson railroads, (all char- 
tered by the Erie Company for a term of years), we have journeyed 
from Jersey City to this point ; the track between Suffern and Pier- 
mont is now given up to the transportation of coal and heavy freight 
The village, which numbers six hundred inhabitants, is quite roman- 
tically located. The landed proprietors, many of whom are wealthy, 
take much interest also in stock breeding and raising, and imported 
cattle and blooded horses, valued high up in the thousands, are here 
no rarity. 

SutT^rn boasts a good hotel, four well-stocked stores, churches of 
the iipiscopal, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, and Methodist denomi- 
nations, two district schools, an Academy, and a Rolling Mill. The 
village contains the summer residences of a number of New Yorkers, 
while, annually, many families cov i>. \iither to enjoy the pure health- 
ful mountain air, the good drives and the romantic scenery of the 
adjacent region. Among rhe population, too, are included many em- 
ployes of the railway company, who here find moderate rents and a 
convenient stopping place. Being a water station, SufFern has the 
advantage of nearly all passenger trains passing to and fro, and is 
connected with the city of New York (thirty-two miles distant, or one 
hour and forty minutes ride) by nine trains each way daily. The 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 33 

theatre train leaving New York every midnight runs to this 
point. ♦ 

From five to six hundred acres of eligible land can be purchased 
hereabouts, although it is held principally by rich owners, not partic- 
ularly anxious to sell. Building lots, centrally situated, range from 
$200 to $500, but within half a mile of the ^epot, land may be had at 
$100 per acre. 

Leaving behind us this busy little railroad town, with its life-long 
clatter of wheels, and shrieking of whistles, we enter the histoiic and 
romantic valley of the Ramapo, guarded at its entrance by giant hills^ 
standing as twin pillars at the gateway. By this route alone was 
communication during the days of '76 kept open with the shores of Lake 
Erie ; here is another headquarters of Washington, an old farm house 
standing silent and lonely, under the roof of which many of his let- 
ters, now extant, were dated. Further on, over the ridge towards 
the north, are still visible marks of intrenchments thrown up by the 
troops, and in the woods opposite, the camp fires of the French allies 
have left indelibly their traces upon the rocks. Yonder looms up in 
gloomy grandeur, the steepled peak of the Torne (High) mf»untain. 
from the summit of which, if one is willing to clamber thither 
through rock and fen, may be had a magnificent view, extending 
even to the harbor of New York, thirty miles away. Tradition says 
that General Washington was accustomed, from this elevation, by 
the use of his field glass, to watch the movements of the British fleet 
in New York Bay. 

A ride of a mile and a half up this picturesque valley, brings us to 
ihe village deriving from it its name of 

RAMAPO, 

distant from New York thirty-four miles, (an hour and fifty minutes 
ride), and reached by five trains each way daily. Here are located 
the far-famed Ramapo Car Works, and the Ramapo Wheel Works 
and Foundry, both of them under control of what is known as the 
Ramapo Manufacturing Company, established in 1790 by the Piersoa 



34 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

family, in whose hands it still remains. The company own the land 
embraced within a circuit of thirteen square miles, (it having been 
granted them by letters patent some time during the last century,) 
and will not sell any part of it except to such purchasers as will guar- 
antee to erect a handsome residence, and expend a generous sum upon 
the grounds about it. The village itself, with a population of about 
four hundred, stands in the hollow to the right of the track, and is 
mainly peopled by the employes of the company and their families — 
the Car Works employing three hundred, and the Wheel Works and 
Foundry eighty hands. 

Some idea of the business done here may be formed from the fact 
that forty tons of iron are melted, two hundred car-wheels made, and 
one hundred and fifty tons of freight shipped away daily. Several 
gangs of men are also employed by the Erie Company in a granite 
quarry upon the estate, from which, connected by a switch with the 
main track, is obtained granite used in ballasting and bridge building 
along the line. 

There are located in this village, a Presbyterian church, a district 
school, and a well supplied country store. The scenery and drives in 
the vicinity are most attractive, the country abounding in streams, 
which, while contributing vastly to the beauties of the spot, are also 
useful in turnishing water power for the thriving works of the com- 
pany. 

One mile beyond Ramapo, the road makes a sudden bend to the 
northward, emerging upon a wide fertile tract ; just at this point is 
the junction of the Sterling Railway, a road nine miles in length, 
connecting with the famous Sterling Iron Mines, which, with the ad- 
jacent tract, were granted by Queen Ann under letters patent to Lord 
Sterling. These are the oldest iron works in the country, the fur_ 
naces having been erected in 1751, and the forge in 1753. The first 
anchor made in the State was manufactured here in 1753. Steel was 
first made here in 1776, and the iron tor the chain, weighing 186 tons, 
which was sunk across the Hudson River at West Point to obstruct 
the passage of the British fleet, was procured here, and transported by 
ox cans brought from Connecticut, to the place where it was destined 



SUBUIUJAN HOMES. 35 

tor use. It is claimed at the present day that these mines are as pro- 
ductive as any in the country, 300 tons of ore being shipped daily. 
The town of Ringwood, inhabited by the miners and operatives and 
their families, and finding its means of communication with the outer 
world and the Metropolis by the Sterling Railway, contains several 
elegant residences, one, it is said, valued as high as $150,000. 

But one train each way daily stops at Sterling Junction, preclud- 
ing therefore any idea, for the present, at least, of its eligi-bility as a 
Bite for Suburban homes. It may be stated that improved land is 
estimated at |200 per acre. 

Continuing on for another mile, we come suddenly upon a village 
reposing calmly in the shadow of the hills, and seemingly shut in 
from rude contact with the outer world. This is 

SLOATSBURG, 

thirty-six miles (two hours' ride) from New York, and reached by four 
trains daily. Glancing through the dense foliage, we catch pic- 
turesque glimpses of numerous houses lining the base of the precipitous 
hillsides. There is here a population of 300, and the village boasts a 
public and private school, a church (Methodist,) a twine manufactory 
working eighty hands, a shoddy mill, two stores and a lumber yard. 
Beside being in a productive lumber region, Sloatsburg acquires an 
importance as being the nearest railroad point to several bodies of 
water, Truxedo, Portague, Shepard's [and Sterling Lakes, all favor. 
ite resorts of the more knowing of Izaac Walton's disciples. There 
is good hunting, too, on the mountains at the proper season, and near 
the village is " Good Spring," the Chalybeate water of which possesses 
rare medicinal properties. 

Land here is offered at reasonable prices, there being 150 acres 
within half a mile of the depot, and along the line of the Ramapo 
river, available at from $50 to $'200 per acre, and $100 per lot. Most 
of the domain hereabouts is (i^vin^d by the Sloat family, to whom it 
was assigned in 1738 by fivt Indian Chiefs, and the original deed of 



gg SUBURBAN HOMES. 

conveyance, drawn up in a jargon of Higli Dutch and Indian combined, 
is siiown to this day as a literary curiosity. 

Six miles beyond Sloatsburg, at a point where a pond known aa 
the Mombasha Pond finds its outlet to the Ramapo, (which by the 
way in the Indian tongue signifies " the river of round ponds") is 

SOUTHFIELDS, 

a little village of 300 inhabitants, distant forty-two miles from New 
York, and reached daily by four trains each way. Close at hand are 
situated the Monroe Iron Works, erected in 1805 by Messrs. William 
and Peter Townsend, and still in operation, employing at the present 
time forty hands in the manufacture of pig iron. There is also at 
Southfields a fruit basket factory, employing about sixty hands, tlie 
neighboring brush supplying abundance of material for this trade, 
together with hoop-poles, which are cut and shipped away in large 
quantities by the country people. There are two summer hotels, (one 
near, and the other about a mile from the depot,) a public schoot and a 
Methodist Church. Within a quarter of a mile from the station, there 
are 1,500 acres of land to be had at $100 per acre improved, and $75 
to |80 unimproved. 

A short distance beyond Southfields, we pass the ruins of the 
Augusta Iron Works, established in 1783-4 by Solomon Townsend, of 
New York, and owned by the Lorillard family. There are said to be 
13,000 acres of land, principally wooded, attached to these works-. At 
this Doint, the Ramapo has a perpendicular fall of twenty feet, furnish- 
ing water-power second only t-o that of the Passaic at Paterson* 
These iron works were celebrated in their day, the iron sent from the 
Sterling' mines having been here forged into the chain stretched 
across the Hudson at West Point, to check the progress of the British 

fleet. 

GREENWOOD, 

forty-four miles (two hours and ten minutes ride) from New York is 
our next stopping place. From the summit of one of the picturesque 



SUBURBAN H0ME3. 37 

hills, lining the valley on either side, may be obtained a view of the 
distant Kaatskills. But the chief features of interest here are the 
immense iron furnaces of Mr, R. P. Parrott, (originally known as the 
Orange Furnace, established in 1811-12 by Messrs. Cunningham) en- 
gaged in the manufacture of the famous Parrott guns. About two 
hundred people reside here, a majority of them deriving a livelihood 
from the Iron Works or the neighboring iron mines, the O'Neal and 
West Greenwood, both of which are in successful operation. For 
a village of its size, Greenwood possesses unusual religious facilities, 
there being three church societies, an Episcopal, Roman Catholic and 
Methodist, with a parish school under the direction of the rector of 
the former. There are also two district schools well attended. 

Embowered amid the foliage on the adjacent hillside, are the 
cott^ages of a little band of inhabitants whom the people of the village 
term Gypsies, doubtless on account of the secluded wildness of their 
life, and their clannish disposition. Like the genuine " Roramanies/' 
they employ their time in weaving baskets and fashioning wooden 
dishes, plates and spoons, and a variety of utensils for sale. 

Nature has indeed been bountiful toward this locality. The 
Bcenery is exceedingly picturesque, and there are in the mountains 
several lakes of the purest water, well stocked with pickerel, black 
bass and other tempting prey for the angler. 

After we leave Greenwood, the valley begins to open away on either 
side, disclosing rich fields and pasture grounds. Two miles progress 
brings us to Newburgh Junction, the point at which the Short-cut 
to Newburgh diverges from the main line. We shall follow up that 
thread some other day. For the present, our route lies straight for- 
ward for another two miles to 

TURNERS, 

forty-eight miles from New York, (one hour and fifty-five minutes ride 
by Express), and reached daily from each direction by ten (including 
Express) trains. Tlie village proper, being located at the intersection 
of several turnpike roads, was formerly kuowu as Centerville, and was 



38 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 




SUBURBAN HOMES. 39 

for a time quite a center of population and business. Its more recent 
name was bestowed in honor of one of its substantial patrons and 
residents. The magnificent brick building, ihe Orange hotel, 300 
feet long, forty-five feet wide, and three stories high, which the Erie 
Company erected here a few years ago at a cost of $140,000, for use, 
as a dining hall, depot and hotel, has made the place as familiar as a 
household word with the traveling public. The lower floor of this 
immense caravansera is devoted to the purposes of a depot and ticket 
office, and a mammoth lunch room, over two hundred feet in length, 
completely fitted up, and admirably ventilated. Here all Express 
train passengers stop for meals, only to resume their journey in a 
vastly bettered and more contented frame of mind and body. Situated, 
as this hotel is, in the very heart of the richest dairy section of the 
State, enjoying a healthful location, and commanding a wide and 
picturesque landscape, it oflfers unequalled attractions to the city resi- 
dent, yearning for a few days of country quiet, a few whiflfs of pure 
mountain air. Looking out from the window of any one of the ele- 
gantly furnished bedrooms or parlors upon the second floor, one sees 
on all sides a succession of sloping hillocks rolling away into fertile 
valleys, dotted with farm houses, substantial barns, orchards, and 
wheat-fields as far as the eye can reach, while in the distance the 
spires of Newburgh and Fishkil!, and the silvery waters of the Hud- 
son, may be discerned. In the hotel one finds ail the conveniences of 
city life, gas-lights, hot-air pipes, bath-rooms, a telegraph ofiBce, and 
in short all the appointments of a first-class public house in the Me- 
tropolis, while, should the visitor feel disposed to ramble abroad, and 
admire the beauties of nature, he may, within a circuit of two or three 
miles, come upon no less than six lakes, set like glittering gems in the 
emerald verdure of the mountain tops. 

The village proper, which is principally located beyond a knoll or 
rising ground on the left of the depot, numbers a population of 1,000, 
has two public schools, four stores, and another well conducted hotel. 
The Methodist and Presbyterians each have organized societies here ; 
the former have erected a church building during the past year, while 
the latter, as yet, hold their meetings in the public school house. 



40 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

Until quite recently, land in this vicinity lias been lield by partie« 
unwilling to sell, but it has now been divided up, and may be had 
within convenient distance from the depot, and in any reasonable 
amount, at $500 per plot for buildinjf purposes, or $300 per acre for 
farming land. Within the past two or three years, an unwonted 
impetus has been given to property thereabouts, considerable land has 
changed hands, many new and tasteful villas or country seats have 
been erected, and there is every promise of a thriving and busy town 
growing up upon this picturesque spot, before many years shall have 
flown. One great advantage in a railway point of view, lies in the 
fact, not only that all passenger trains stop, but also, that a Special train , 
the Orange Co. Express, is run daily to and from New York, without 
any intermediate stoppages, thus bringing Turners, to all practical 
purposes, ten or fifteen miles nearer in communication with the city. 
This fact alone has induced many wealthy New Yorkers to purchase 
Suburban homes at this point on the line. 

And now, leaving Turners, we enter a long stretch of fertile farm- 
ing and pasture land, a land literally flowing with milk and honey. 
Only half an hour ago, the rocky battlements of the Ramapo hills 
hemmed in the view, but now a glance from the car window discloses 
a vista of meadows, cottages and orchards on whatever side we turn. 
The contrast is refreshing, yet before we have had half enough time 
to appreciate it, we find ourselves at 

^ MONROE, 

distant fifty miles, (two hours and forty-five minutes ride) from New 
York, and reached by six trains daily. To the admirer of pastoral 
scenes, this quiet village, with its thickly shaded streets, and houses 
embowered in foliage, presents a charming theme for contemplation, 
and Longfellow's description of the peaceful Acadian village of 
Grandpr^ is involuntarily recalled to the visitor. 

The population numbers from four to five hundred, a great number 
of wnom are engaged in the milk trade, which has rendered the name 
ot Orange County famous the coontry over. Four thousand gallons. 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 41 

SpeS Mountain Houses, 



This new Establishment is aa important addition to the already 
established Summer Resorts ; the Proprietor has recently erected 
buildings in addition to his lormer Hotel accommodations, regardless 
of expense, for the comfort of Guests. There are also a number of 
handsome cottages and a home school for Young Ladies (Seven 
Springs Seminary), and in the fall will be established, by a compe- 
tent Professor, a Military School in the "Octagon Tower" of the 
Seven Springs. 

The buildings are large, built of stone, very cool, and connected by 
covered walks ; situated on the mountain, 2,000 feet above tide water, 
50 miles from New York, two miles from Monroe depot on the Erie 
Railway, which passes through a charming country ; fine views and 
scenery, pure air and plenty of shade. The water contains mineral 
properties which cure kidney cx)mplaint8 and other kindred diseases. 
No ague or mosquitoes. 

The House will be kept in first-class style, with Billiards, Music, 
Dancing, and other amusements. Coaches connect with trains to 
and from New York. 

Merchants can be with their families at night. Excursion and 
Commutation tickets over the Erie at low price. The best train to 
come on is the Orange Co. Express, which leaves foot of 23d St. at 
4.15 P. M., and foot of Chambers St. 4.30 P.M. 

J. M. Bettman, a gentleman of 15 years' experience, (late of the 
Metropolitan Hotel, N. Y., and Cozzen's West Point,) has been en- 
gaged for the season. Accommodations for 600 Guests. Terms 
liberal. 

J. G. DAVISON, Proprietor. 

J. M. BETTMAN, Manager. 
Monroe, Orange Co., N. Y., May, 1873. 



Keferences. 

JOSEPH U. ORVIS & Co., Bankers, No. 96 Broadway, 
MAJOR GE^^ERAL JOHN B. WOODWARD, Esq., Brooklyn, 
ZOPHAR MILLS, Esq., 144 Front Street, New York, 
JAMES P. TRAVIS, 46 Beekman Street, New York. 

- On the Seven Springs Mountain land exist very fine blue stone 
quarries, which are in operation. Also on the land is a stock ^com- 
pany, working on a liberal lease. They have expended a lar{?e 
amount of money ; and have sunk a shaft 80 feet, and drifted in 75 
lor coal They continue to get coal enough to give them confidence. 



42 S13BUKBAN HOMES, 

or over ivio hundred and fifty cans, are shipped hence every evening to 
the Metropolis, to be distributed from house to house by the milkmen 
on each following morning. The railway company's annual receipts 
for freight on milk from this point alone amount to $70,000. During 
the last year, a sl^pam mill and elevator have been added to the useful 
industries of the village. 

Monroe was first settled in 1742, under the name of Smith's Clove ; 
next, was christened with the singular title of Cheese Cocks ; in 1802 
became Smithfield ; and finally, fsix years later, settled down into its 
present name, bestowed in honor of the President. History and tra- 
dition tell some hard stories of its first settler, Claudius Smith, a 
** Cow Boy" chieftain, who, after murders and depredations of all kinds 
in the Ramapo section, was hung in Goshen by the Whigs in 1779. 
But the inhabitants of Monroe to-day are of altogether another stock, 
and as a community, are industrious, enterprising and thrifty. The 
village contains churches of the Episcopal, Presbyterian and Metho- 
dist denominations, a well conducted grammar and primary school, a 
flouring mill, six or eight grocery and dry goods stores, and a drug 
store. Considerable travel is brought to this station on account of 
its being the point from which stages connect with the summer hotels 
at Seven Spring Mountain, a delightful resort, which of late years has 
been rapidly growing in public favor,-and which is patronized by an 
annually increasing circle of the elite of the neighboring cities. A 
charming woodland ride of half-an-hour, brings the traveler to the 
hotel buildings, which form a little village by themselves on the 
mountain top, and command a view of the adjacent country for 
miles around. This year, as will be seen by the advertisement of 
Mr. Davison, the proprietor, elsewhere inserted, the establishment is 
to be conducted with increased convenience and comfort, affording 
business men from New York a cool and invigorating retreat, and 
at an easy distance from the city. 

From Monroe, stages also connect for Greenwood Lake. 

OXFORD, 
fifty-two miles (threo hours' ride) from New York, and having the ad- 



8UBURBAN HOMES. 4;} 

vantage of five trains daily, is our next stopping place. From this 
station, the meadows slope away on either side, in successive pastures 
over which roam herds of grazing cattle, until, in the distance, the eye 
rests upon the conical summit of the Sugar Loaf. Here too, the milk 
trade employs a goodly number of the villagers, over 2,000 gallons 
being daily shipped to the city. The population numbers only a hun- 
dred or two, but there are two public schools, (within a mile of the 
depot) a good store, a Methodist Church, and a meetinghouse used by 
the Friends' Society. The farmers in the vicinity are generally will- 
ing to take a few boarders during the summer months, and find no 
diflSculty in thus filling up their vacant rooms in warm weather. 

Within two hundred rods of the depot, there are about forty acres 
of land available for building purposes, which may be had at from 
$100 to |250 per lot, while farming land further removed is offered at 
the same price per acre. 

Two miles beyond Oxford, the road emerges from this rolling 
country upon a range of level marshy fields one mile in breadth, but 
extending many miles in length, and evidently, at a remote period, the 
basin of some great body of water. In the construction of the road 
at this point, it was found necessary, from the softness of the soil, to 
build the track upon a causeway of huge piles, six feet apart, and 
driven down ninety feet into the earth. The track is thus raised con- 
siderably above the meadows, and is filled in solidly with earth. The 
ground hereabouts is very fertile, and is devoted to the raising of 
garden products, which are shipped away annually in immense quanti- 
ties by the farmers. 

Surrounded by the meadows, is our next stopping place, the little 
hamlet of 

GREYCOURT, 

with a population of fiuout one hundred, and chiefly important as the 
point whence diverge branch roads to Newburgh and to Warwick, 
of which we shall take a survey hereafter. There are two small pub- 
lic houses and a few residences, the inhabitants finding their church 
and educational facilities in the adjacent village of Chester. Agri- 



44 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

cultural pursuits aftbrd a livelihood for nine-tenths of the residents, 
considerable milk being shipped from here, and two hundred acres 
out of seven hundred, composing the Greyoourt meadows, being under 
cultivation. There is here abundant opportunity for some enterpri. 
sing capitalists to realize a handsome fortune by developing the inex- 
haustible peat resources of these boggy meadows, and utilizing the 
material for the purpose of fuel. The land may bought at from $150 
to $800 per acre. 

One mile beyond Greycourt, and at the farther verge of the mead= 
ows we have crossed, stauds the considerable village of 

CHESTER. 

fifty-five miles from New York, and accessible by five trains daily. It 
is divided into East and West Chester, separated by a high hill 
topped with neat dwellings, surrounded by gardens. East Chester, 
lying near the station, possesses numerous storehouses as indications 
of the amount of business done here. The population is about 1,500, 
many of whom, as at Monroe, are engaged in the milk trade. An 
unromantic but remorseless fact it is, that men, as a general thing, 
discharge the functions of the buxom dairy maid hereabouts. 

It will, mayhap, bring a tear to the eye of the reader to learn that 
from this point, 50,000 busliels of onions are annually shipped to the 
New York market. So fertile and cultivated is the rich black soil of 
the adjacent meadows, that, upon four acres owned by a public-spirited 
citizen, a crop of these esculents, realizing a profit of $1,200, was 
raised one season. 

There is evident in Chester a certain enterprise, and co-operation 
among its citizens, from which many larger towns might well take 
example. It has two churches, a Presbyterian and a Methodist, and 
also boasts a Bank (the Chester National.) In school facilities 
especially it is progressive, the Union Free .Academy being an insti- 
tution of learning in which the citizens exhibit a justifiable interest 
and pride. It embraces primary, grammar and academic depart- 



SUBUT^BAN HOMES. 45 

meets, and a Museum of Natural Sciences, and the edifice which it oc* 
capies has recently been enlarged by an outlay of $35,000. 

Lots may be purchased at from $300 to $600, and farms at from 
$125 to $300 per acre. This does not, however, embrace the rich 
meadow land which is held as high as $1,000 per acre. 

From this point the road passes through the hill above the village 
by a deep cut, and brings us to the very centre of Orange County, 
with every inch of soil mapped out into smootli-shaven slopes. The 
farm houses look neat and substantial, and after an interesting ride 
of five miles, we enter the farfamed town of 

GOSHEN, 

sixty miles (two and a half hours ride) from New York, and accessible 
by eight trains daily. This beautiful town is located on a broad and 
cultivated table land, surrounded by an amphitheatre of gently slop- 
ing hills. It is, with the exception of Paterson, the most important 
commercial point we have reached since leaving New York, being the 
natural centre of the great milk trade of the Walkill, and the Otter- 
Kill Valleys. Here are produced the famed Goshen butter and cheese- 
The town itseif is. one of the oldest and wealthiest in the State 
(it having been first settled in 1713, and incorporated in 1809,) and is, 
jointly with Newburgh, the county-seat of Orange County. Its 
avenues and streets are broad and well shaded, and its private resi- 
dences tasteful, and adorned with all the beauty of surroundings 
which modern landscape gardening can give. The salubrity of its 
atmosphere, the fertility of its soil, the luxuriance of its. vegetation, 
the ever-changing beauties of its private parks, leafy avenues and 
roadside hedges, invest it with a quiet charm unknown to most of our 
Burburban towns. The great wealth of many of its residents has 
been freely expended in contributing to the attractiveness already 
conferred by nature. The drives through the adjacent country abound 
in scenes of interest to the visitor, while the famous trout brooks ot 
Sullivan and Ulster Counties, and tlie game covers of Cedar Swamp, 
the Warwick Woodlands and the Great Wild Meadows, where wood- 



46 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

cock, plover and quail are abundant, may be reached in an hour 0¥ 
two. 

In points of historic interest, also, Goshen abounds. The flame of 
revolutionary patriotism nowhere burned brighter than here. It is 
said that a portrait of King George over the Court House entrance 
was torn down on the morning after the reception of the news of the 
first conflict with the British troops, and never to be replaced. Here 
stands, too, the Minisink monument, a shaft of marble, twelve feet in 
height, resting upon a base of the same material eight feet in height, 
surmounted by the figure of Hope, and ornamented in bas-relief with 
representations of the tragical story of Indian warfare, which it 
commemorates. 

Goshen has furnished more than one eminent man to the list of 
those of whom the country is proud. DeWitt Clinton, one of New 
York's noblest statesmen ; Noah Webster, the great lexicographer 
and the Winans brothers, who, as successful engineers and railroad 
builders, have achieved a fame in both hemispheres, all called this 
charming town their home. The society is among the most refined 
and cultivated in the country, and this fact evinces itself everywhere 
in the appearance of the town, its churches, its schools, its every sur- 
rounding. There are churches of the Episcopal, Methodist, Roman 
Catholic and Presbyterian denominations. The congregation of the 
latter have erected an edifice costing $125,000, and the Episcopalians 
point with pride to a blue granite church they have completed. 
There are eight schools, including one classical school, two public 
and three private grammar schools, a female seminary of some note 
and a Military Institute. Two newspapers, the Goshen Democrat, 
established in 1736, and the Independent Republican in 1788, are 
published here. The population numbers about 3,000, representing 
all varieties of avocations incident to a large and growing town. 
The Court House and Jail, and Clerk's and Surrogate's offices, are 
located here, but " doubtful questions of right and wrong " find but 
little place in the minds of this moral, industrious community. There 
are two National Banks, the Orange County and the Goshen, three 
fine hotels, a foundry, carriage factory, sash and bhnd factory, drain- 



SUBURBAN HOMES, 47 

tile factory, a brick-making machine, and grocery, dry goods, drag, 
hardware and jewelry stores, all the minor branches of trade being 
proportionately represented. During the past year a new and com- 
plete system of water works, (costing $60,000) and fifty new dwellings, 
have been added to the town. Stock breeding and trading are largely 
carried on here also ; many cattle are received from the West, and 
transhipped to Newburgh, while the breeding of horses is carried on 
to a considerable extent. Dexter and Highland Maid were bred here, 
and one New York gentleman has constantly on hand at Stony Ford 
farm, two or three miles away, a large and valuable stable of blooded 
animals. A fine iialf-mile race track and fair grounds are located in 
the suburbs of the town. Three miles to the south-west, is the north- 
ern boundary of the most extensive peat formation known in the 
United States, embracing 17,000 acres, and surrounded by a most 
productive mineral region, in which white and blue limestone, granite, 
white marble, oxide of zinc, and oxidized iron ore, exist in consider- 
able quantities. 

From Goshen two branch Railways diverge, the one known as the 
Montgomery and Walkill Valley Branch, extending to Kingston 
43 miles, and the Pine Island Branch, to Pine Island, 13 miles 
distant. 

Within the past few years, more improvements have been made 
in and about Goshen than during the previous fifteen, and its 
people, now fully awakened to its advantages as a suburban resi- 
dence, evince much interest in its development. Within from five 
minutes to a quarter of an hour's stroll from the depot, are about one 
hundred acres of improved land, which are offered as building plots, 
(100x200 feet) at from $100 to $800. Farming land may be bought 
some little distance further off between $100 and $300 per acre. 

From Goshen, the road runs along almost on a level, bringing us 
into the valley of the Walkill River, which, running north through 
this and the adjoining County of Ulster, empties into the Hudson 
near Rondout. 



48 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

A distance of four miles further on, we come to 
HAMPTON, 

^ixty-four miles from New York, and reached by four trains daily,) 
situated on the left bank of the river, which at this point is almost 
drained of its waters by the Chechunk Canal, a ditch from ten to 
sixteen feet wide, four to six feet deep, and three miles in length, 
which was dug in 1829 for the purpose of draining and reclaiming 
about 20,000 acres of drowned lands, previously in a continued state 
of inundation. This canal, with its inlet and outlet in the Walkill 
above and below the town of Hampton, was, in the course of a few 
years, enlarged by the action of the waters to a width of about five 
hundred feet, so that the main body of the Walkill River, as above 
stated, now passes through it. In consequence of its loss of water 
power from this diversion, an extensive woolen factory is going to 
ruin. 

The population of Hampton is about 200. The place contains a 
Pr^byterian church, a good hotel, and two public* schools. P'rom 
fifteen to twenty acres of land in the vicinity of the depot are oflered 
for sale at $125 per acre. 

Moving over an ascending grade for a distance of three miles, we 
approach a long curve, and obtain suddenly a view of 

MIDDLETOWN, * 

(sixty-seven miles from New York, and reached by nine trains each 
way daily) pleasantly situated in an open, level and rich portion of 
Orange County, and deriving its name from the fact that it is situated 
midway between Montgomery and Mount Hope. Since the construe, 
tion of the Erie Railway, Middletown has increased in extent, popu- 
lation, and business, surprisingly. Its population, numbering 8,000, 
are industrious and enterprising, and do a prosperous business. De- 
void of many features of traditionary interest, such as cling to its 
older neighbor Goshen, this tiourishing town is yet in the freshness 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 49 

of its growth, the loveliness of its surroundings, and the beauty of 
its shaded streets, its lawns, its residences, its public buildings, its 
parks and churches, as thoroughly attractive as any locality can be 
to the prospective purchaser of a Suburban home. The taste evinced 
here in cottage architecture is especially observable, and the stranger 
who takes his first stroll through any of the long, neat avenues inter- 
secting the town, finds on every hand elegant dwellings, with all the 
surroundings which wealth can combine with refinement to suggest. 

Although not yet incorporated, Middletown possesses all the best 
characteristics of a full grown city. There are a number of hotels, 
and four fine brick builaings devoted to the Primary and Grammar 
schools, and the Academy or high school offers instruction in the 
academical and classical branches. Several private schools receive 
a good share of patronage. 

The religious facilities offered are extensive, there being eleven 
churches, comprising First and Second Presbyterian, (Old and New 
School,) Baptist, Episcopalian, Methodist, Congregational and Roman 
Catholic, some of which would, in their architecture and finish, grace 
any avenue in the Metropolis. There are also three public halls, one 
of which is fitted up with stage and scenery, and sea,ts one thoiasand 
people, and a Lyceum with a reading room and a well-stocked library. 
Four newspapers, the Mercury, Mail, Orange County Press, and 
Signs of the Times, are published here. The trades are represented 
largely — there being a saw manufactory (the most extensive of its 
kind in the CTnited States,) a rolling mill, a foundry, two hat factories. 
a carpet bag factory, and factories for the manufacture of nails, agri- 
cultural implements, files, carpets, paper collars, and an innumerable 
variety of other articles. There are four banks, the Middletown, the 
Walkill, the First National, and the Savings Bank, a Masonic Lodge 
(Hoffman No. 412,) Midland Chapter R. A. M., and Middletown Lodge 
L O. 0. F. The town is Ht with gas, has a Board of Health, which 
keeps its streets clean, and in thorough repair ; an organized Fire 
Department — and is supplied with pure spring water, led in by pipes 
from a reservoir two miles away, and, at such a height above the 
level of the town, that the water power thence derived is sufficient to 



50 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

work the machinery of the printing presses in the newspaper offices. 
A system of sewerage and drainage is now in progress in the principal 
streets. Among the public institutions may be mentioned a Gymna. 
sium and the Young Men's Christian Association. In the western 
part of the corporation limits, grounds have been purchased for the 
erection of a Homoeopathic Insane Asylum, the plans of which indicate 
a substantial and imposing edifice, while in the south-western portion 
of the town, and partially overlooking it, is " Hillside Cemetery," 
containing fifty acres of land, all improved, two lakes, five miles of 
macadamized roadway, and walks, lawns, shade-trees, evergreens and 
shrubbery in great abundance, and admired as being one of the most 
beautifully improved places of sepulture in the country. 

As may be inferred by the reader, from the prosperous and growing 
character of the town, land in Middletown is valuable, yet the prices 
asked are in no way unreasonable. Building lots on well graded, 
paved, lighted and watered streets, vary from $300 to $1,500, and good 
business stands can be had at anywhere between $500 and $3,000. 

Within the corporation limits, about 500 acres of high, desirably 
situated property are available at an average price of $3,000 per acre 
— while adjacent farm lands can be bought as low as from $100 to 
$250 per acre. 

Leaving Middletown, we enter, though gradually, a more rolling 
and mountainous tract, and three miles further on, reach 

HOWELLS, 

(seventy-one miles from New York, and reached by three tuains daily) 
a village of about three hundred inhabitants, possessing a public 
school, a Congregational Church, several stores, and a hotel, and de- 
riving its principal importance from the milk interests of the surround- 
ing region. From an embankment which we pass here, we catch a 
glimpse of a quiet little hamlet, and a lofty cultivated ridge beyond, 
gradually growing bolder and bolder, as it approaches the chain of 
hills which meet directly across our path not many miles away. 
We are now approaching the verge of Orange County, yet, while the 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 51 

Boil lacks none of the wondrous richness and fertility which we 
observed in it further back, land is considerably cheaper. Improved 
farm land may be bought for from $90 to |100 per acre, and building 
lots for from |350 to $300. 

Resuming our journey, we see before us a vast range of cultivated 
valley skirted in the distance with blue, mazy hills, while to the left, 
th* great Shawangunk Mountain, with every inch of its eastern slope 
under cultivation, rears its crest heavenward. Its western face, on the 
other hand, is a mass of rock and forest, totally unfit for cultivation, 
and to this day remaining in a state of primeval wildness. A shon 
distance beyond this interesting view, we arrive at 

OTISVILI^E, 

(seventy-sis miles from New York, and reached by three trains daily) 
the western limit of the milk producing section of Orange County 
It has a population of about 500, and derives its name from the first 
settler, Isaac Otis, Esq., more recently a merchant in New York City. 
The recent discovery near this spot of a gigantic mastodon, has 
given this peaceful hamlet, of late, quite a wide-spread fame among 
Naturalists. The fact that the daily milk trains start from this place, 
gives it an additional local importance, and from its elevated position 
it presents^ with its church spires and neat cottages, a pretty appear- 
ance to the traveler. It contains three churches, Presbyterian. Meth- 
dist and Roman Catholic, and a new public school house, two hotels 
and several stores, already erected, while quite a number and variety 
of other buildings are still in progress. In the vicinity of the depot, 
about forty acres of land, available for building sites, may be had. a.i 
from $100 to $300 per acre, improved, and from $70 to $100 
unimproved. 

Leaving Otisville, we ascend a grade of forty feet to the mile, and 
at a distance of a mile, reach the point where the first great engineer- 
ing diflSculties offered by the Shawangunk Mountain were met and 
overcome. Upon the first survey of this section of the line, a Board 
of Engineers recommended a tunnel, twenty-seven hundred feet iu 



52 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

length, as the best and only feasible plan of reaching the valley on 
the further or western side of the mountain, but further deliberation 
developed the fact that the difficulty could be better surmounted by 
making a cut 50 feet deep and 2,500 feet in length, through the 
rocks, thus opening a passage near the summit, and thence descending 
the western side on an inclined plane by an extensive curve, running 
sou.th toward the Delaware Kiver. > 

As we skirt the mountain side by this circuitous, dizzy route, the 
first view 'of the wild Shawangunk (White Rock) Mountain, as seen 
from the West, breaks upon us in all its gloom and grandeur of shade 
and shadow, and heavy cliflFs, which have bared their faces to the 
winter storms and summer suns of centuries. A short distance be- 
yond, we look down upon the valley to which we are so rapidly de- 
scending, and see only an unbroken surface of tree tops, without a 
fiign of human existence or art to vary the monotony. Two miles 
from OiisvJlle, we pass along a heavy embankment 1,000 feet long 
and thirty high, and thence, descending the s^ope of ten miles before 
us, enter the valley of the Neversink, which, unlike the one preceding 
it, is bright and smiling with life, and dotted far and near with farm- 
houses and cultivated meadows. Here we catch a glimpse of the 
Delaware and Hudson Canal, connecting the iron mines of Carbondale 
with the Hudson River, and, upon its bank, discern the little village of 
Cuddeback, originally settled by the Dutch, and boasting many inter- 
esting reminiscences of the days of Indian warfare. 

And now we are near 

GUYMARD, 

a little village of about one hundred inhabitants, distant eighty miles 
from New York. Its chief feature is the Guymard Spring House, a 
summer hotel capable of accommodating from seventy-five to one hun- 
dred guests. Land in the immediate vicinity of the depot will sell at 
$15 and $25 per acre, while that in the beautiful Neversink valley 
opposite, is more highly cultivated, and worth about $100 per acre. 
The descent of the Sliawangunk is nearly ten miles in length, and 



SUBURB &.N HOMES. 53 

offers a succession of pleasing views, tliough becoming more and 

more contracted in extent. When the slope ceases, our road turns 

again to the west, and crosses the Neversink by a bridge fifty-five 

feet high, with a span of 150 feet, when we are brought in full 

view of 

PORT JERVIS, 

(eighty-eight miles from New York,") beautifully located at the base 
of a range of bold mountains, overlooking the Delaware River, which 
not yet grown to the mighty stream upon whose crest navies are 
floated to the sea, plashes and ripples madly over the shoals and dams 
vainly obstructing its course. The village, which numbers 8,000 in- 
habitants, covers a plot about two miles in length by one in width* 
is governed by a Board of Trustees, has a Police Force, a Fire Departs 
ment (numbering four engines, two hose carriages, and one hook and 
ladder company,) is lighted with gas, and now enjoys the advantage 
of public water works. There are three banks and two newspapers, 
the Port Jervis Evening Gazette, published tri-weekly (with also a 
weekly edition,) and the Tri-States Union, published weekly. The 
useful trades are well represented, in two steam iron foundries, a ma« 
chine shop, two bedstead manufactories, a knife factory, a lumber- 
planing mill, glass factory, three carriage factories, a sash and blind 
factory, and many smaller establishments. Of churches there are 
seven, viz.: Episcopal, Roman Catholic, Reformed, Presbyterian. 
Baptist, Methodist and German Lutheran, several of which have been 
rebuilt during the late years, and are now models of architectural 
beauty. Port Jervis Lodge, No. 328 F. and A. M., Neversink Chapter, 
No. 186 R. A. M., Delaware Commandery of Knights Templar, 
Ustayantha Lodge, No. 143 L 0. 0. F., Attila Lodge, (German) No. 209 
I. O. O. F., and Deerpark Encampment, No. 4G I. O. 0. F., hold regular 
communications in their respective halls. The Masonic Hall is a fine 
building, elegantly fitted up, and during this year, (1872,) an Opera 
House is also to be erected. The Independent Order of Good Templars 
also have a Lodge here, (Invincible, No. C07,) and there are a number 
of other societies and other organizations, including the Poi-t Jervis 
Literary Association, the Young Men's Literary Association, St 



o4 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

Mary's Catholic Benevolent Society, the Machinists* and Blacksmiths, 
Union, and the Brotherhood of liocomotive Engineers. The public 
schools nitmber twelve, with an average daily attendance of 1,600 
pupils. There are in addition several private schools worthy of note. 
The hotels are numerous and well kept. 

As an important centre of trade and travel, Port Jervis is especially 
noticeable. The Delaware and Hudson Canal pass through it, and 
about 150 boats, with an average of 140 tons of coal to each, go by 
daily. By the Erie Railway, over a hundred trains arrive or depait 
in one direction or the other in every twenty-four hours. The com- 
pletion of the Monticello and Port Jervis Railroad has opened up 
ihe wild and romantic fastnesses of Sullivan County, rendering easy 
of access to city people the famous resorts of Black Lake and Lake 
Superior. On the Pennsylvania shore opposite the village, and con- 
nected with it by a new bridge spanning the Delaware, is the vil. 
lage of Matamoras, while, on the New York side, within easy walk- 
ing distance from the depot, are the suburbs of Sparrow Bush, Car- 
penter's Point and Brooklyn. The celebrated Chilton Springs, situated 
about five miles from Port Jervis, are to be reached by one of the 
finest wagon roads in the country, and the visitor, on arrival, finds 
ample accommodations. Eight miles also to the southward of Port 
Jervis, is the picturesque village of Milford, Pa., with which railroad 
communication will probably be opened during the present season. 

The soil in this vicinity is, as a general thing, productive. In the 
village proper, lots measuring fifty by one hundred feet can be bought 
at prices ranging from $200 to $3,000, according to location, while in 
the suburbs above mentioned, they may be had at from $100 to $200, 
and some even as low as $50. 

Nature has been lavish with her treasures around the site of this 
thriving village,* blending mountains, valleys, rocks, streams and 
woods into a picture which, viewed from the summit of either Point 
Peter or Mount Williams, two high mountains north of the town, 
partakes of the sublime. A fitting terminus is this spot, with all its 
wealth and grandeur of charms, to the varied route through valley, 
plain, grove and meadow, which we have followed on our journey 
hither from the Metropolis. 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 65 



THE HAOKENSAOK BKANOH, 

Extending six miles from the Junction on tJie Jersey Meadows to 

Hackensack, and thence sixteen miles, via Hackensack 

Extension Railroad, to TaUmans. 

Diverging from the main line, a sliort distance east of Rutherford 
Park, the road runs for a mile or two along the level of the meadows, 
affording the passenger on the left hand side of the train, an excellent 
view of the sunny slope upon which stands the substantial and enter- 
prising village of 

CARLSTADT 

a settlement established almost exclusively under the auspices of enter, 
prising Germans, a company of whom, seventeen years ago, purchased 
here a farm of several hundred acres, divided it up into equal lots of 
ground, opened streets, and planned building sites, whereon has since 
gi-own up a neat, compact and flourishing village, numberino- over 
four thousand inhabitants. Viewed from a distance, Carlstadt is pic- 
turesque and charming ; seen close at hand, it loses none of its attrac- 
tiveness. The ft^reets are graded and clean as a parlor floor, the side- 
walks are dry and well kept, and the people are proud of their villao-e, 
public-spirited and enterprising, and have no drones in their hive. In 
short, there are to be seen here all the characteristics of a neat, thrifty 
German town, and one who strolls through its busy street at noonday, 
might easily imagine that the populous centre of some city in Fader- 
land had been wafted hither bodily, and landed upon these fertile 
Jersey slopes. 

There are to be found here two churches, two hotels, a Turn-Halle, 
and any number and variety of well-stocked stores. Manufacturing 
interests are represented by a watch case factory, a lock and cutlery 
factory, a furniture factory, and a wax-bleachery. There are two large 



56 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

brick school-honses, in wliich both the English and the German langua- 
ges are taught . The streets are lighted with ges, and a horse railroad 
to connect with the neighboring village of Lodi, is projected. 

Lots available for building purposes are offered for sale, (measuring 
25x100 feet) at from $600 to $1,000. 

WOODRIDGE, 

one mile beyond Carlstadt, is a promising village of 250 inhabitants, 
and possessing many of the characteristics of that which we have just 
left ; over twenty new buildings have been erected here during the 
past year. Land may be had at $250 per lot, or $1,500 per acre. 
Still two miles further on is Lodi Junction, whence diverges a single 
track road connecting with the active manufacturing village 
of Lodi, where are located the famous Lodi Chemical and Lodi Print 
Works. Further on, the swampy meadows become fertile farm lands, 
habitations and signs of culture become more frequent, we pass the 
newly established station called Corona, where already signs of en- 
terprise are apparent, and, in a few moments more, near the beautifu* 
village of 

HACKENSACK, 

standing upon the banks of the river of that name, and important ag 
the county seat of Bergen County. All of this vicinity teems with in- 
teresting historic reminiscences ; every foot of ground hereabout was 
trodden, over and over again, by the revolutionary soldiery, and, had 
we the space, many interesting anecdotes, handed down from those 
times, might be narrated of the patriotism and courage of the people 
of Bergen County, many of whose descendants dwell here to this day. 
But, while the farms in the vicinity are still owned by, and most of 
the business ot the place is still in the hands of the Ackersons, Blau- 
velts, Ackermans, iiomeyns, Bantas, Terhunes, Voorhees, Zabriskies» 
and others in whose veins courses the pure " blue blood" of their old- 
time Dutch progenitors, there is a very large commingling in society 



SXJBURBAN HOMBS. 57 

of tlie families of first-class New York business men, who liave liere 
found it both convenient and agreeable to establish their home?, and 
for wTiose benefit sev'en trains daily are run, at very reasonable com- 
mutation rates. Churches of all denominations abound ; there are 
several public and some private 8cho<jl8, a fine academy, two circulat- 
ing libraries, and free reading ro3ms ; two public halls ; two weekly 
newspapers ; a Masonic hall ; a successful gas company ; an insur- 
ance company ; a well-planned system of sewerage ; in fact, the vil- 
lage has most of the conveniences of the city, and that too at moder- 
ate cost. There is a depot at each end of the village, (about a mile 
apart,) near which lots (50x150 ft.) commatid from $500 to $10,000 
each. 

Hackensack has about 10,000 inhabitants, and is growing with great 
rapidity. 

* From Hackensack northward to Tallmans, sixteen miles distant, we 
pass over the New York and Hackensack Extension Railroad. This 
road is nearly completed through to Haverstraw, and will shortly be 
in running order to that point. At Grassy Point, one mile above 
Haverstraw, on the Hudson River, it is proposed to establish a coal 
depot, the wharfage facilities being superior, it is said," to those of 
any other point of shipment on the river. This road may, in time» 
form an important link in the proposed West Side Railroad to Albany, 
but ia now in operation as far as Tallmans only, to which point cars 
run through from Jersey City without change. Four trains run each ' 
way over the line daily. The construction of this road, which has 
been energetically pushed by a few public-spirited citizens, has inau- 
gurated a new era in the value of real estate in the northerly portion 
of Bergen County, by bringing within the reach of New York busi- 
ness men many pretty villages and desirable farm-lands. The pro- 
longation of the line two years ago from Hillsdale to Nunuel, and 
thence, parallel to the Piermont Branch of the Erie Railway, to Tall- 
mans, has brought to residents of that section increased facilities tor 
frequent and rapid connection with the Metropolis. 

Our first stopping place beyond the incorporated limits of Hacken- 
sack is 



58 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

CHERRY HILL, 

formerly New Bridge,) a small but growing village of 500 inhabitants, 
delightfully situated upon the hillside, with an unsurpassed drainage ; 
roads hard and dry ; fine society, and a number of schools and hand- 
some residences. For a purely " Surburban home," few places pre- 
sent greater attractions than Cherry Hill, which, it is evident, is 
destined to become one of the most popular resorts in this vicinity 
for city -tired business men and their families. 

City lots vary here from $100 to $400, and land by the acre sells 
as high as $1,000. 

The diagram of the property of Messrs. Zabriskie & Ackerson> 
published on the opposite page, conveys to the reader, to some ex- 
tent, an idea of its convenience and beauty of location for Suburban 
Homes. As will be observed, streets and avenues have been opened 
lihrough it, and upon any one of these, within a few minutes' walk of 
the depot, may be found most desirable building lots, on high 
ground, well drained, and commanding a charming view, embracing 
hill, dale, river, and woodland scenery. Hackensack is rapidly 
growing in this direction, and those who invest and improve property 
for homes at this point, can hardly fail to realize a considerable 
profit on the investment, at present prices. 

RIVER EDGE, 

a mile and a half further on, is the next stopping place. Of it, as of 
Cherry Hill, it may be said that it contains many attractive building 
sites, beautifully located upon the slope of the ridge overlooking the 
line of the road, and connected with the depot by a handsomely laid 
out avenue. A substantial and commodious bridge has also been 
thrown across the Hackensack. 

There are property.owners at this point willing to deed a lot of 
ground free to any one who will guarantee to erect at once a $4,000 
house thereon. Land sells at $3u0 to $500 per lot. 

Three quarters of a mile beyond, is 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 




60 SUBURBAN HOMES '' 

NEW MILFORD, 

the head of navigation on the Hackensack. Schooners of a hundred 
tons come up to this point. The village boasts of a large grain'and 
flouring mill, tvro schools and two churches (both Dutch Reformed ) 
and gives promise of a rapid growth. 

ORADEL, 

A village half a mile beyond, presents a neat, attractive appearance. 
The land, hitherto level at the one side, and sloping at the other, 
becomes undulating on both sides, opening now and then to the view 
many charming vistas. A handsome new brick hotel and store, and 
a number of new dwellings, add to the appearance of the village, 
and others are in process of erection. A new bridge has also been 
built over the Hackensack. 

Upon the fertile ridge overlooking our roadway from the west is 
springing up, too, a beautiful village of villas, from any one of which 
one may gain a charming view, embracing the verdure clad valley of 
the Hackensack below, the distant mountains to the northward, and 
directly opposite the bold heights of the Palisades, studded with 
hamlets and homesteads which overlook the majestic Hudson. 

ELIGIBLE Am DELKHTPUL SITES 

— FOU— _ 

Lots, 80x100, 

Villa Plots, 150x300. 

Select tlie BEST LOCATIONS wMle ttere is yet tiiiis. 

—Terms that will suit all,— 

.Ar»JPLY TO 
AJT TI-IE) up: POT. 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 



61 



The advertisement of Mr. Isaac A. Demarest, on the adjoining 
page, informs the reader of some desirable property at thiB point 

which he places this year upon the market. 

] 

KINDERKAMACK, 

a mile and three-quarters beyond Oradel, is a growing place, with 
good approaches, and is inhabited by a number of men of means, who 
have lost no opportunity to improve it, and aid its growth. Seven 
new houses, blacksmith and wheel-wright shops, a livery stable, store 
and Post-ofl5ce have been erected vSuring the past year. The price of 
land, as mentioned under the head of River Edge, will cover all the 
intermediate property at this point. At 

WESTWOOD, 

a mile further on, the visitor sees several fine French roof houses, and 
a hotel recently erected, a handsome store, neat depot, and visible 
signs of improvements in progress. The infusion of new life and 
energy, attendant upon the construction of the Extension Railroad, 
^s very apparent here. The Pascack turnpike intersects the railroad 
at this point. 

• Crossing Pascack Creek, which, further down finds its outlet into 
the Hackenaack, we reach 

HILLSDALE, 

for a time the terminus of the road, and destined at no distant day, 
judging from the wonderful progress made during the last two years, 
to become an important center of trade and travel. The recently 
constructed residence of the President of the Extension Road, D. P. 
Patterson, Esq., standing a short distance west of the depot, is a model 
of architectural beauty and taste, and within a circuit of a half mile, are 
the abodes of a number of old and wealthy inhabitants of the county. 
A large hotel, capable of accommodating 250 guests, stands j ust east of the 



02 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 




SUBURB AK HOMES. 63 

depot ; a fine new country storo, well-stocked, is in operation adjacent 
to the station, and many elegant dwelling houses have been or are 
being put up on eligible sites within a stone's throw of the spot. The 
depot itself has been rebuilt during the past year, the new structure 
being an elegant two story building, containing also the room in 
which the Directors of the Company hold their meetings. The vil- 
lage of Hillsdale has a population of about 2,000, contains two schools» 
a church (Dutch Reformed,) and four turning mills, all in operation. 
The Pascack Creek, formed by the confluence of several large 
brooks, furnishes a water power sufficient for fourteen mills, and in 
this respect the advantages of Hillsdale are especially worthy of con- 
sideration. But its claims as a place of residence are equally strong. 
The country is open, and well cultivated, the air cl«ar and healthful, 
the water pure, and the soil very fertile. The country roads afford 
opportunities for delightful drives or rambles ; two miles east of the 
station is the hill where the unfortunate Major Andre was hung, and 
where his remains found a resting place, until their removal to his 
native country a few years ago. 

Within a half a mile from the Hillsdale Depot, one may purchase 
an acre of good land for $500, while city plots, ea^y accessible from 
the cars, can be had at from $300 to $500. The diagram annexed 
shows the extensive property here offered for sale as laid out, graded, 
and which is already dotted with many suburban homes. 
Continuing along this valley a mile and a half further, we come to 

the Station of 

PASCACK, 

where a depot, a store, and several handsome dwellings have been 
erected. From this station, the Pascack Post-office is reached, the 
" Pascack Neighborhood," lying on the left of, and about a quarter 
of a mile distant from the railroad, and stretching along parallel to 
it for a considerable distance, being a locality well worthy of a visit 
on account of the charms of its pastoral scenery, the quaintness of 
its old stone church and church-yard, and the busy hum of the bobbin 



64 SDBCTRBAN HOMES. 

factory, one of the most extensive of its kind in the State. Another 
mile brings us to 

PARK RIDGE, 

located on the road leading from Pascack to Old Tappan. The con- 
struction of stores, a hotel, an Academy, a Depot, and ten dwellings 
during the past year at an aggregate cost of $53,500, and the estab- 
lishment of a Post-office, and a coal and lumber yard, all give evidence 
that the people are anticipating the inevitable demand for Suburban 
Homes. 

MONT VALE, 

one mile beyond, is situated on rising ground to the right of the val- 
ley, and on a road crossing the track from Pascack to Middletown. 
This station is principally used by residents of Upper Pascack. It 
beasts a Post-office and Depot, several stores, a livery stable, and a 
number of new dwellings. 

From this point, we emerge into the " Valley of the Muddy Brook," 
a trout stream, the beautifully clear waters of which murmur cease- 
less plaints against the unmerited odium of such a title. Half a 
mile further on, the State line is crossed, and we enter Rockland 
County, New York. 

PEARL RIVER, 

one mile distant from Mont Vale, is our next stopping place. Here 
the grounds adjacent to the road rise higher, and the views are 
magnificent. To the south, Newark Bay, Staten Island, Passaic and 
Paterson are plainly visible ; the Ramapo Mountains to the west, and 
the Palisades to the east, are seen in the distance ; the well cultivated 
district of Middletown lies like a garden beneath. For private resi- 
dences the locality is admirable, is well graded and laid out in streets. 
A well-stocked lumber yard has been opened to supply all building 
materials— and here are located the very extensive works of the 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 65 

Etna Sewing Machine Co., the establishment of which gives new 
life and impetus to improvements in this vicinity. 

From Pearl River, the road traverses a thickly populated and 
wealthy farming section to Nanuet, whence it runs parallel, as before 
stated, with the Piermont Branch of the Erie Railway to Spring 
Valley. From Nanuet, the road has also been graded to New City, 
and will be in running order during the present Summer (1873.) 




English Cottage, 

Shown in Detail and Cottage Architecture, 
Published by A. J. BICKNKLL & CO. 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 



THE NEWARK BRANCH. 

The rapid growth, of late years, of the two great manufacturing 
cities of New Jersey, Newark and Paterson, having rendered the 
time-honored stage coach facilities altogether inadequate to the de- 
mands of travel between them, a charter for the construction of 
a broad-gauge railroad, from Paterson to Newark, with the privilege 
of extending it through to New York, was granted by the State 
Legislature, the work was vigorously prosecuted, and during the 
summer of 1869, the road, eleven and a quarter miles in length, was 
thrown open to travel, as a branch of the Erie Railway, under the 
control of which, by purchase, it had come. 

The importance of this branch as a connecting link, can be only 
And, during the past year, this enterprise has been consummated 
by the completion of a continuation of the line over the Passaic, 
and across the meadows to Bergen tunnel, thus forming a new route 
for travel between the Metropolis and cities of Newark and Pater- 
son, and, more important still, bringing within accessible distance of 
the city numerous beautiful villages, which have hitherto been 
dependent upon inconvenient and circuitous routes of communica- 
tion with New York. As a consequence, thousands of acres of 
property, invaluable accessions to the tracts eligible for Suburban 
Homes, have been practically brought an hour nearer to New York, 
while the villages which they embrace seem to have an infusion of 
new vigor, and are developing at an astonishing rate. 

Leaving Bergen tunnel, the roadw^ay diverges to the left, and 
follows the line of the Morris and Essex track to the westerly shore 
of the Hackensack. Then it takes a direct line across the meadows 
to East Newark — crosses the Passaic by a substantial bridge, and 
the delighted traveler presently finds himself at 

NEWARK. 

the largest city of New Jersey, and already boasting a population of 
one hundred and thirty thousand. The growth of Newark has been 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 67 

all but incredibly rapid. A few years ago, this point at wliich the 
Erie enters it, was far in the suburbs. Now, on alighting, the pas- 
senger sees, on all sides, all the activity and bustle of the crowded town. 
Street cars are in waiting at the adjoining corners to carry him to 
any part of the city. Long rows of modern dwellings, some ot them 
exquisite and tasteful in style, can be seen on all sides. Near at 
hand are the mammoth thread mills, from which comes the famous 
Clark's O. N. T. thread ; while, further beyond, can be traced the 
spires, walls and shipping of the more ancient portion of the city 
below. 

Hundreds of New York business men reside in this portion of New- 
ark, going to and from the Metropolis daily. Commutation rates are 
law, (see table published elsewhere) and communication is frequent 
and rapid. Near the depot, upon Washington Avenue, the mag- 
nificent roadway, (which, a continuation of Broad Street, extends 
north to the Passaic County line,) or other pleasant thoroughfares , 
may be found for rent or purchase many handsome dwellings, con- 
taining all the conveniences of city life. 

WOODSIDE, 

the next stopping place, is just inside the northern city limits of 
Newark, having been annexed thereto about two years ago— already 
there is a numerous travel from this point, and the adjacent streets 
and avenues, on both sides of the railroad, will be found to contain 
numerous pretty cottages and villas, many of which are inhabited by 
men who daily cross the Hudson twice. 

Just beyond this we cross Second River, a powerful stream which 
here empties into the Passaic, and next come to a stand still at 

BELLEVILLE, 

an eminently old and respectable burgh, with a population of from 
four to five thousand, and numerous maunfacturing industries. 

Fully two centuries ago, BfUeville was a favorite place of summer 
reson/and even at the present time one might search far to find a 



BS SUBURBAN HOMES, 

lovelier spot than tliis peaceful village, which, embowered in dense 
foliage, slumbers upon the Passaic's banks. 

Within a few years at most, Belleville will, in all probability, be- 
come an incorporated section of Newark, with which now it is reg- 
ularly connected by horse cars. Modern improvement already shows 
itself in the opening and improvement of adjacent property, and on 
the ridge overlooking the town from the west, may be found many 
attractive sites for homes. 

At Belleville may be seen, at almost any time, one or more live 
Chinamen, a large force of whom are employed in the Laundry on 
the opposite side of the river. 

NORTH BELLEVILLE. 

at the upper end of the village, is a convenient stopping place for 
many of the residents who have sensibly availed themselves of the 
facilities which the railway oSers for reaching retired homes within 
less than an hour of New York. A few minutes' walk from the 
station brings one to Washington Avenue (before mentioned), which 
even here boasts many handsome dwellings, and from which one 
obtains charming views of the river below and the country beyond. 
We next reach 

AVONDALE, 

where indeed, as elsewhere in this vicinity, one can hardly go amiss in 
investing in land ; the salubrity of the atmosphere and healthfulness 
of surroundings, the beauty of the scenery, and the facilities for 
communication, all combine to render a large advance upon present 
prices almost a certainty. Springs of the coolest, purest water 
abound, and indeed, at no distant day it is promised that the Reser- 
voir, just across the Passaic River, supplying Jersey city with water, 
is to be tapped by pipes crossing under the river, thus giving resi- 
dents in this locality all the advantages in that regard enjoyed 
by their larger neiachbor. 
Our next stopping place is 



SUBURBAN HOMES 69 

FRANKLIN, 

a thriving village, situated iu tlie valley of the Yantico, a rapid trib. 
utary of the Passaic, which, passing directly through the place, not 
only adds a charm to its natural beauty, but affords numerous and 
valuable water powers for manufacturing purposes The largest and 
finest woolen mills in the State,the property of J. W. Stitt, Esq., are here. 
The adjacent country abounds in natural attractions and picturesque 
scenery. From Prospect Hill, an elevated plateau, immediately 
west of the village, and within easy distance of the depot, may be had 
an extended view, embracing Ruthurford Park, Passaic, and a wide 
expanse of landscape through which the Passaic winds like a thread 
of silver, while in the distance can be discerned the cities of New 
York and Brooklyn. At this point charming building sites can be 
obtained at reasonable prices. In point of liealthfulness, convenience 
and heauty, the seeker for a " suburban home " will find this locality 
unsurpassed. The land is undulating, diversified with well wooded 
slopes, and has underlying it within a few feet of the surface a stra- 
tum of porous gravel, thus ensuring admirable drainage and a com- 
plete freedom from the miasma "■ic diseases incident to so many 
country homes. The proximity of the romantic Passaic, at no point 
more charming than here, where it winds its way through banks 
shaded with luxuriant verdure, affords purchasers of adjacent proper- 
ty rare opportunities for boating, fishing and all aquatic 8port8,with the 
additional advantage of an immunity from danger from passing boats 
or the numerous sailing vessels which ply upon the Hudson or 
other more pretentious streams. 

The drives about Franklin are especially varied and attractive, in- 
cluding, within a circuit of three miles, the thriving communities o^ 
Passaic, Bloomfield, Montclair, Rutherfurd Park, and many lovely 
sylvan scenes which the C(>n?2C»U(;2(r in natural beauties will not fail to 
appreciate. Communication with Newark and Belleville is also 
rendered easy by the recent completion of the grand boulevard, 
Washington Avenue, which extends in an unbroken sweep one 
hundred feet in width, from a point within five minutes' walk of 



70 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

tlie centftr of Franklin to the very heart of Newark, and which ia 
destined in a few years to be built up from end to end with elegant 
residences. 

Nor are the people of Franklin slow in improving its advantages. 
The energy and enterprise of John W. Stitt, Esq., Silas C. Hay, Esq., 
and other prominent citizens, are rapidly pushing it to the foremost 
position among the towns on the line of the road. During the past 
year a variety of attractive residences, varying in value from six to 
twelve thousand dollars, have been erected by the two gentlemen 
first mentioned, both of whom own extensive tracts of property eli- 
gible for building sites. Grant Avenue, on which Mr. Stitt's improve- 
ments are principally located, aflTords charming views of the sur- 
rounding country, while in " Brookside Enclosure," a rural park 
owned by Mr. Hay, may be found sites for many retired and peaceful 
homes. Those so fortunate as to secure such will find in the village 
ample religious and educational facilities, there being four churches, 
two schools, and markets and stores supplying the neces- 
saries of daily life at reasonable prices. 

And now, crossing the Yantico, we resume our journey toward our 

junction point with the main line at Paterson, seven miles distant. 

We pass the dividing line of Essex and Passaic Counties just before 

reaching 

HIGHLAND, 

where, as its name indicates, is to be found a fine tract of elevated 

property within easy distance of the depot, and also within ten 

minutes' ride of the center of Passaic village. The Morris Canal at 

this point is within half a mile on our left, and runs hence parallel 

with our line to Paterson. 

CENTERVILLE, 

our last stopping place on the Newark Branch, is a small village 

principally located on the canal just west of the station, and contains 

a Methodist church, school, and several stores. Those who secure 

Suburban Homes near this point have the advantage of double 

communication with New York and Paterson, the Clifton Station on 

the main line, (see page 18) being not over half a mile distant. 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 71 



NEWBURGH SHORT OUT, 

Exiending seventeen and a quarter miles from Newhurgh Junction 
to Neidburgh. 

This route, between the cities of New York and Newburgh, although 
thrown open to travel but a little over two years ago, has, on account of 
the elegant accommodations, more rapid communication, and reduced 
fares which it offers, become very popular with the residents of New- 
burgh and points along the line. It especially claims public favor as 
shortening the time to New York to two hours and twenty-five 
minutes — less, by twenty -five minutes, than by the Fishkill and 
Hudson River route ; and also by the fact of landing the business 
man, not at Forty-second street, where an additional car or stage fare, 
and a long tedious ride down town are inevitable, but at the foot of 
Chambers street, in the very business centre of the great city, whence 
can be easily reached the stores, offices, and markets ; or by the 
traveler, the great avenues of departure eastward, westward, south- 
ward, and for foreign parts. 

As has been stated elsewhere, the Short cut diverges from the main 
line at a point two miles west of Greenwood, and runs thence, a dis- 
tance of seventeen and three quarter miles, to Newburgh, passing 
through, or near, a number of villages, every one of which is a favor- 
ite summer resort, and to each of which the construction of this 
branch, bringing three trains of passengers each way daily, has 
brought, also, a sudden increase of growth and prosperity. 

The first of these places is 

HIGHLAND MILLS, 

comprising a population of about three hundred w^hin a mile of the 
station, and containing two public and one private school, two 
churches, Methodist and Friends, a good store, two large boarding 



72 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

houses, and a carriage manufactory. Stock raising and breeding 
is also carried on here successfully. Land may be bought in villa 
sites or building lots of a quarter acre, more or less improved, for 
$100, and farming land may be had at $150 per acre, 

CROMWELLS 

has a population of about two hundred and fifty ^contains three churches, 
two stores, and a Post Office, and offers desirable building sites, espe- 
cially adjacent to a small lake, about one mile west of the station. ' 

At 

WOODBURY, 

a small village, containing a Methodist church and factories for fish- 
ing poles and lines, there are within a half mile of the station a num- 
ber of attractive localities, where land per acre can be had at from 
$100 to $300. 

VALLEY, 

two and three quarter miles beyond, is the next station. Plenty 
of land near the depot is to be had at $150 per acre for improved, 
and $100 unimproved. The village contains a flouring mill, two 
public schools, and a Methodist church. 

MOUNTAINVILLE, 

the next station, derives an importance from its proximity to the 
celebrated Mineral Springs, which have made this region so popular. 
It has a population of about 500, and boasts a market, a public hall 
and reading room, and Express and Post Offices. Land sells here as 
low as $600, and as high as $10,000 per acre. 

The most important way station on this branch is that at which 
we next arrive. Tho name of 

CORNWALL 

will recall, to many, memories of delightfully cool summer days, 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 73 

passed in this picturesque and romantic neighborhood. The village 
of Cornwall proper is about three miles east of the station, on the 
turnpike road through to the Hudson, and is reached by stages or 
other vehicles, which are always in waiting on the arrival of trains. 
Its population numbers 3,500, although, during the summer months, 
it is, by the influx of visitors, increased to three times as many. There 
are nine churches, viz : two Presbyterian, two Friends, and two 
Roman Catholic, and one each of the Episcopal, Methodist and 
Baptist denominations, and eight schools, six of which are public 
and two private ; industrial pursuits are actively followed, there being 
here a woolen mill, two flour mills, a paint mill, and a piano-forte 
manufactory. A Masonic Hall, and a Bank building, have also been 
recently erected. 

Contiguous to the station, there are about three hundred acres of 
land purchasable for building purposes, while, along the turnpike 
road, for the entire distance through to the Hudson, and in the more 
immediate neighborhood of Cornwall and Canterbury, there are 
many tempting sites for the purchaser, ofl"ered at an average price of 
$400 per acre. 

VAIL'S GATE AND TEMPLE HILL. 

the latter being the point at which the two Newburgh Branches unite 
present to the visitor a small collection of houses situated on the New 
Windsor and Blooming Grove Turnpike, where there is a toll-gate, 
from the keeper of which the former took its name. Formerly 
it was called Tooker's Gate, for the same reason. 

Henceforth, on our journey, we find ourselves confronted by a 
series of magnificent panoramas, in which the lofty Highlands, every 
moment growing nearer and nearer, loom up grandly beyond the 
intermediate farm-lands, as we approach 

NEW WINDSOR, 

one of the most promising places on this line, bidding fair, in a 
short time, to be well built up and with a fine class of houses. 



74 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

Those already erected are, without exception, both pretty and 
substantial. West Point, Canterbury, Cornwall, and Idlewild, the 
home of the late N. P. Willis, are all near at hand, and can be 
reached in an easy afternoon drive. Around the depot, the grounds 
are being laid out in a Park, and there are visible, on every side, 
indications of a determined and enterprising public spirit. 

The olden history and traditions of New Windsor are of exceed- 
ing interest. When Washington had his head-quarters at Newburgh, 
in 1783-3, the principal portion of his army was encamped here, and 
the site of the old camp grounds is still marked by the debris of huts » 
the location of " The Temple " is discernible, and the military bury- 
ing-ground is strewn with the mounds of those who were interred 
there. 

Our route hence to Newburgh, is one of novel and exciting beauty. 
At one time we skirt the edge of the ravine through which a rushing 
water course hurries headlong to the Hudson, turning the wheels of 
the factories as it goes ; at another, we whirl around the side of a 
mountain, one of those towering Highlands which we have for some 
time been admiring from a distance, coupling with our admiration a 
wondering inquiry as to where our path would find its outlet through 
them to the river bank. But of a sudden, as we gaze, buildings, 
sheds, freight-houses, and shipping obstruct the view, and the train 
comes to a full stop at the terminus, 

NEWBURGH. 

Upon alighting, the visitor finds, upon his right, all the character- 
istics of a commercial port ; steamboats, barges and sailing vessels line 
the piers, upon which great storehouses and granaries stand. To the 
left, the streets of the city run directly up the steep hill-side, affording 
only glimpses, however, of the beauties to which they lead, where the 
more attractive portion of the city stretches itself along the hilltop. 

Newburgh is regularly laid out, aud its appearance is at once pre- 
possessing. Its first settlers were Germans, from the Palatinate of the 
Rhine, who, having been stripped of their possessions, and driven forth 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 75 

by religious persecution, were sent hither by the English government. 
The settlement was made in 1709, by a colony of fifty-six persons, in- 
eluding a minister and parish clerk, and was called "the Palatine- 
Parish by Quassaick," the latter term being the Indian name of a 
email creek, bounding, on the south, a portion of the present city. 
Thenceforth, the settlement grew rapidly, in 1803 was incorporated, 
in 1805 became a city, and to-day has a population of 20,000, with the 
promise of becoming, at no distant day, an important railroad centra. 
The Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad is being rapidly 
p.ushed forward from Waterbury, Conn., toward the Hudson, which 
it will reach at Fishkill, directly opposite Newburgh, and connected 
with it by excellent ferry facilities ; the Dutchess and Columbia 
Railroad also runs eastward' from Fishkill, and the projected West 
Side Railroad from Albany lo New York will pass directly through 
the city of Newburgh. 

In the city, and its vicinity, are many localities of historic interest. 
The house of Jonathan Hasbrouck, standing upon an eminence in 
the southern portion of the city, and overlooking the river, was, from 
April, 1783, to October, 1783, the head-quarters of Washington, the' 
array being encamped in the vicinity, principally at New Windsor. 

The building, which is an unpretending farm-house, of rough grey 
stone, was bought a few years since by the State, and is now the 
Mecca of every patriot who visits the city of Newburgh, containing^ 
as it does, a thousand interesting revolutionary relics, including the 
arm chair in which General Washington was wont to sit, and a fire- 
shovel which was in use during his occupation of the place. 

"Once; ah once, within these walls. 
One whom memory oft recalls, 
The Father of his coautry, dwelt : 
And yonder meadows, broad and damp, 
The fires of the besieging camp 
Encircled with a burning belt. 
Up and down these echoiiig stairs^ 
Heavy with the weight of carea 
Sonnded his majestic tread; 
Yes; within this very room 
Sat he, in those hours of gloom. 
Weary both iu heart and head." 



76 SUBURBAN HOMES, 

The driv^es in the vicinity of Newburgh are among the most 
pleasant in America. To the south, may be reached ** Murderer's 
Creek/* a name rendered memorable by Paulding's tradition of 
"Naoiaan," the camp-grouads of New Windsor, the head-quarters of 
Steuben and Lafayette, the residence of Willis, and many modern 
seats of beauty and taste. To the southeast are the burial grounds 
and the homestead of the Clintons, the right-hand men of Washing- 
ton ; to the west, those of the Coldens, and to the north, is the Dans- 
Kammer, a point, the history of which reaches back to the domina- 
tion of the Indian tribes. Within a circuit of nine miles, are West 
Point, Fort Putnam's monumental rocks, the Beacon Hill of the 
Highlands, the scenes of Cooper's " Harry Birch," and the historic 
Dans-Kammer monument, telling of a nation which we never knew. 

With such surroundings, is it not remarkable that Newburgh has 
rapidly attained a prominence as the abode of wealth and enterprise. 
Convenient of access by its railroad connections with the Erie, bring- 
ing it within about two hours of the heart of the Metropolis ; its 
atmosphere healthful and bracing; possessing six public and several 
.excellent private schools, (including the celebrated Newburgh Insti- 
tute, a model school for boys), twenty-one churches, representing all 
Christian denominations, four banks, two newspapers, cotton and 
woolen mills, and iron works and foundries ; and, what is more cred. 
itable than all, boasting noble, public charities, and a good, local 
government. Newburgh deservedly ranks among the fairest and 
proudest of the cities, not alone of the Empire State, but of the 
entire country. 

Within a circuit of two miles from the depot on Front street, there 
are offered, at points overlooking the Hudson River, several 
hundred acres of land very desirable lor building purposes. Prices 
vary from ^300 to |.3,000 per acre, and city lots from $300 to 
$2,500 each. 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 77 



THE NEWBURGH BRANCH, 

Extending eighteen and three quarter miles from Greycourt to 
Neicburgh. 

From Greycourt, it will be remembered, the Newburgh and War- 
wick branches diverge, northeastward and southwestward respect, 
ively, to the towns which give them their names. These are, it may- 
be stated, operated as a single line, trains running directly through 
between Warwick and Nevvburgh, and stopping at Greycourt, only 
as a connecting point with trains on the main line — while, again, 
one train daily runs direct each way between Middletown, on 
the main line, and Newburgh. It will thus be easily inferred that 
this branch of the Erie, both in freight and passenger traflBc, is full 
of activity and bustle. By this route, the citizens of Warwick, 
Goshen, Middletown, Port Jervis, and Newburgh, find a cheap, 
frequent and rapid means of intercourse, and those owning or pur- 
chasing property along the line, find themselves thrown into semi- 
daily connection with New York. A large amount of freight 
brought from the West by the Erie Railway is carried over this 
route to Newburgh, and thence shipped by barges to New York. 

Leaving Greycourt, we pass through two miles of alternate 
meadow lands and cuttings to 

CRAIGVILLE, 

a pretty, though secluded, village of about five hundred inhabitants, 
in which signs of modern progress are visible on every side. There 
are here two churches, a Methodist and a Presbyterian, a public 
school, a tavern, a cotton factory, two grist mills, and a steam mill, 
the former being worked by water power, in facilities for which the 
locality abounds. South and west of the depot, there are forty or 
fifty acres of rich laud purchasable at the rate of from |150 to $500 



78 SUBURB \N HOMES. 

per acre for improved, and $80 to $150 for unimproved. Here, as 
almost everywhere else in Orange County, tlie woods and fields 
abound in game, and the brooks and ponds in sport for the angler. 
Resuming the ride, one comes, just beyond Craigville, upon a superb 
bit of scenery, or rather a panorama, in which a wide stretching 
peaceful valley, a distant mountain, wheat fields, apple orchards, and 
a quaint farm house form prominent features ; but the iron horse, un- 
min'Jfnl of nature's allurements by the way, whisks us on through 
thicket and glen to the considerable village of 

Washingtonville, 

another important center of the milk trade, about 5,000 quarts being 
shipped hence daily. The place, which is embowered in a rich growth 
of foliage, and which, in the style of its dwellings, and the laying out 
of its thoroughfares, makes j ust pretensions to rural beauty, numbers 
about eight hundred inhabitants, and at once strikes the visitor as a 
prosperous and thriving village. It contains a Methodist, and two 
Presbyterian churches, several public and private schools, including a 
female boarding school of high repute, two well kept hotels, two 
public halls, flour and feed mills, a plaster mill, a sash and blind fac- 
tory, and bakery, millinery, dry goods and grocery stores. The health- 
fulness of the place is unsurpassed, the large annual influx of summer 
visitors being alone sufficient to attest the fact. The whole region 
is filled up with a prosperous farming population, distinguished alike 
for intelligence and refinement. In the vicinity reside many men of 
wealth and position, among whom may be mentioned the well-known 
grape growers and wine makers, the Jaques Brothers, whose grounds 
and buildings at Blooming Grove are well worthy of inspection. To 
the north of the village, and two or three miles distant, stands the 
homestead of the renowned Clinton family, where De Witt Clinton 
passed his boyhood ; and about the same distance westward, may be 
seen the antiquated church of Blooming Grove, said to be the oldest, 
with one or two exceptions, in the country. 

Washingtonville has experienced a new and rapid growth during 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 79 

the past year, and many investments in real estate have been the 
result. There are several hundred acres of good land in the market, 
at prices varying from $500 to $1,000 per lot, and $125 to $200 per 
acre, according to location. 

Two miles and a half further on, after passing through a landscape 
of fresh and ever changing beauty, we reach 

SALISBURY, 

a village, which, during the past year, has greatly improved in at- 
tractiveness to the visitor. The Otter Kill, running directly through 
it, and making magnificent falls, furnishes a fine water power, by 
which a paper mill, erected at a cost of $200,000, and employing eighty 
hands, is run ; a grist mill and a tan yard are also among the indus- 
trial features of the village. 

The population numbers about four hundred. The Methodists have 
a church here, and there are also two schools, one of them public. 
The prospective purchaser may find here, within three minutes walk 
of the depot, one hundred acres of good productive Orange county 
land, for sale, at about $150 per acre. 

And now, after passing Vail's Gate, surrounded by many rich piecea 
of farming land, we reach Temple Hill, from which point we 
proceed through New Windsor to Newburgh over the route already 
described, as a portion of the Newburgh Short-Cat. 



BUBUHBAN H0ME6. 



THE WARWICK BRANCH, 

Extending ten miles from Oreycourt to Warwick. 

This road is owned by a separate Company, who pay the Erie Rail- 
'fray Company an annual rental for the rolling stock used in operating 
it. The intention of the stock-holders is to continue this road 
through New Jersey to Belvidere on the Delaware, where connection 
will be made with the great Pennsylvania coal fields, and the Lehigh 
Valley. This, with the completion of tne Boston, Hartford and Erie 
Railroad, running directly through, from opposite Newburgh to Bos- 
ton, will facilitate direct shipments of coal to the latter city. 

The first stopping place, after leaving Greycourt, is 

EAST CHESTER, 

which, in reality, is but another portion of the town of Chester, 
through which we have previously passed on the main line. Just 
beyond the station, a landscape full of beauty and grandeur greets 
the eye. 

SUGAR LOAF, 

the next station, derives its name from the mountain, the conical 
peak of which looms up, grey and hoary, near at hand. The village 
itself ia small, but picturesque in location. 

LAKE STATION, 

another small settlement, derives its name from Clark's Lake, a beau- 
tiful sheet of water situated east of the railroad, just beyond it. 

STONE BRIDGE 

is the point at which passengers connect with the pretty village of 
Bellvale, containing a church, a public school, two grist mills, and a 
number of stores and shops. 



SUBURBAN HOMES. ^j] 



WARWICK, 



the terminus of the branch, has upwards of 1,500 inhabitants, and 
is a town of some importance. The swift Wawayanda Creek passes 
directly through its centre, adding not a little to the beauty of the 
village scenery. The streets are well laid out, graded, shaded and 
paved, and the residences, as a general thing, are neat and taste- 
ful, and embrace many elegant new cottages and villas, surrounded 
by flower gardens and terraces, and possessing the same pleasing 
characteristics noticeable in those at Groshen or Middletown. When 
the railroad was first completed to this point, nine years ago, there 
stood but three houses, where now is the more modern and beautiful 
portion of the town. The elegant residence of the great landscape 
painter, Cropsey, is situated on a romantic hill-side not far away. 

There are six churches here — Dutch-Reformed, Episcopal, Metho- 
dist, Presbyterian, and Old and New School Baptist, the size and gen- 
eral appearance of the houses of worship being worthy of note. 
Several district schools, and a school for instruction in the higher 
branches, afford abundant educational facilities. There are three 
good hotels in the village, with a livery stable attached to each. 
The Warwick Advertiser is published here, and the First National 
Bank of Warwick has been incorporated. Wawayanda Lodge No. 
544 F. & A. M., holds its regular communications in a commodious 
lodge room of its own. The drives and rambles in the country adja- 
cent to Warwick are full of beauty ; a spacious cemetery, situated in 
the outskirts, is handsomely laid out, and contains several costly and 
beautiful monuments. During the past year, public water works 
have also been established. 

The purchaser will find many rare building sites and farm land 
in this neighborhood, should he conclude to settle here. Village plots 
can be had at from $300 to $1,000 according to location, and land for 
farming purposes sells per acre at prices varying from $100 to $200. 



BUB URBAN HOMBe. 



Montgomery and Walkill Valley Branch, 

Embracing the Montgomery and Erie Road, extending ten and a 

quarter miles from Ooahento Montgomery, and the Walkill 

Valley Road, extending thirty-three miles from 

Montgomery to, Kingston. 

From Goshen to the pleasant village of Montgomery, renowned as 
tlie resort of amateur spoitsmen at certain seasons, this branch passes 
northeastward through a rich farming country, Campbell Hall, situa- 
ted about midway, being the most important station. From Mont- 
gomery, it follows, as its name denotes, the Valley of the Walkill 
through Walden, a thriving manufacturing town with magnificent 
water power, and a good architectural country about it, to Kingston, 
to and from which point two trains are run daily. Rosendale, famed 
for the manufacture of building cement, is the most important point 
on this section of the line, and here a magnificent iron bridge 900 feet 
in length has been constructed. 

By the recent completion of this line, another great artery, con- 
necting the metropolis with the west shore of the upper Hudso.v, has 
been opened to the traveling community. 

To aid in the extension of the line along the Hudson to Albany, 
its ultimate objective point, the Legislature has authorized the 
towns in the Counties of Greene and Albany to issue bonds to the ex- 
tent of one-twentieth of the taxable property, upon the written peti- 
tion of tho tax-payer». 



WJBLliBAN HOMES. 83 



PINE ISLAND BRANCH, 

Bxtendiiif eleven and three quarter miles from Ooslien to Pine Island. 

The intention of the incorporators of this road is to construct it 
ultimately to the State line, about three miles beyond its present 
terminus, and thence, under the provisions of a New Jersey charter, 
to Deckertown, in that State. The road runs southwestward from 
Qoshen, passing through an excellent milk and butter producing re- 
gion, passing through Orange Farm to the charming little village or 
Florida, widely known as the early residence of the Hon. Wm, H. 
Seward, most of whose relatives still reside here, and whose father 
founded at this place the Seward Institute, a seminary for young 
ladies. There is also at Florida a good hotel, called by some tha 
best in the county, and there are in the vicinity uumerous small 
lakes with veiy good fishijjg. 



84 SUBURBAN HOMES. 



■ Monticello and Port Jervis Branch, 

Extending twenty-four miles from Port Jervis to Monticello. 

This road was chartered by the State Legislature in September, 
1868, and was thrown open to travel about a year ago. It is sub- 
stantially constructed, with room for a double track, has no trestle 
work, and but little bridging, and, although but a short time in opera- 
tion, is already doing a handsome business in the transportation of 
passengers and freight. 

From Port Jervis, the line runs in a northerly direction along the 
Deerpark Valley to 



HUGUENOT, 

a village deriving its name from the fact of its having been originally 
settled by the Huguenot refugees. The mineral springs of this locality 
present many interesting phenomena, as for instance, two springs 
bubbling up within four feet of each other, one of them clear and 
pure as crystal, the other so strongly impregnated with iron as to be 
discolored by it. A spacious and handsome hotel has been erected 
here, and is annually patronized to a liberal extent. A4 



ROSE'S POINT, 

four miles further on, are to be found the blue flagstone quarries 
which seem to be inexhaustible in extent, and which have of late 
been energetically and profitably worked. 

A strikingly picturesque feature of this locality, too, is the Suspen- 
sion Aqueduct, whereon the Delaware and Hudson Canal crosses the 
Neversiuk Valley. 



SUBURBAN H().ME:S. 

OAKLAND. 



85 



thirteen miles from Port Jervis, is a brisk lumber settlement, poss eat- 
ing several mills, tanneries and quarries. A wheelbarrow factory is 
also in operation. 

HARTWOOD, 

three miles further on, possesses the same general characteristics 
The line hence extends in a northwesterly direction to the beautiful 
village of 

MONTICELLO, 

charmingly located in the midst of picturesque scenery, and 1.400 
feet above the level of tide water. It numbers about 1,500 inhabitants 
and has four churches, a male and female academy, a district and a 
private school, and two newspapers, the BepuUican Watchman and 
tJie Sullivan Co. BepuUican. 




An Italian Vilfa, 

From A. J. BICKNELL & CO., 
Architectural Book Publishers, 27 Warren Street, New York, 



80 SUBUKBAN HOMES. 

OF NEW JERSEY. 



Rates of Commutation. 

Distance 

Beiween JerecyCity and ia Miles One First Six Second Siz Threa One 

from Jer- Year. Months. Mouths. Months. Month, 
sey City. 

Wilsonville (c^^^^^i) H 40 00 25 00 20 00 13 50 8 00 

Tyler Park 3 50 00 30 00 25 00 17 50 9 00 

Homestead 5 60 00 40 00 35 00 22 50 10 00 

New Durham 5| 60 00 40 00 35 00 22 50 10 00 

Granton 6| 62 50 41 25 36 25 28 50 10 50 

Fair View 8 65 00 42 50 37 50 24 50 11 00 

Ridgefield 9 70 00 45 00 40 00 26 25 1150 

Leonia IH 75 00 47 50 42 50 28 25 12 00 

Walton 12f 80 00 50 00 45 00 30 00 18 00 

Englewood 13| 85 00 52 50 47 50 33 00 14 00 

Highland 14| 86 25 53 25 48 25 32 50 14 50 

Tenafly 15| 87 50 53 75 48 75 33 00 15 00 

Cresskill 17 88 50 54 25 49 25 33 50 16 00 

Bemarest 18 90 00 55 00 50 00 34 00 17 00 

Closter 19i 95 00 57 .^0 • 52 50 35 75 IS 00 

Norwood 21 97 50 59 00 54 00 36 50 18 50 

Carrieville 21f 98 75 59 50 54 50 37 00 18 75 

Tappan 22^100 00 60 00 55 00 37 50 19 00 

Sparkill 23| 100 00 60 00 55 00 37 50 19 00 

Piermont 24| 100 00 60 00 55 00 37 50 19 00 

Nyack 28J 100 00 60 00 55 00 37 50 19 00 

Orangeburgh 25 107 50 63 75 58 75 40 50 20 50 

Blauveltville 26i 110 00 65 00 60 00 41 25 21 00 

Nanuet 30f 115 00 ' 67 50 62 50 43 25 22 00 

Spring Valley 33^117 50 68 75 63 75 44 25 23 00 

Monsey 34^ 120 00 70 00 65 00 45 00 24 00 



SCBUKBAN HOMES. 87 



Northern Railroad of New Jersey. 

This road starts from Jersey City, diverges from the main line just 
Wf^st of the tunnel, and thence runs along the western base of Bergen 
Heights and the Palisades to Piermont. In addition, an Extension 
runs from Piermont along the summit of the Highlands to Nyack. 

Upon leaving the main line, we first perceive the green slopes and 
lawns of 

TYLER PARK, 

a recently opened property, which, by its proximity to the city, and 
by its yet being just outside the corporation limits, enjoys all the ad- 
vantages of municipal government, such as horse cars, gas and water, 
without the burdensome taxation which usually accompanies such 
luxuries. Single fares to this point are only ten cents, and commuta- 
tion forty dollars per annum. A magnificent avenue, forming a part of 
a direct line from Jersey City to Paterson, intersects the Park, and will 
be, when completed, unsurpassed as a carriage drive. The streets are 
now being graded and drained, and lots can be purchased on most 
favorable terms by payment of a small cash instalment. No pur- 
chase money is required from parties willing to build at once. 



HOMESTEAD 

1ft the next station we reach. It is half an hour's ride from New 
York, and has five trains each way daily. Lots sell at from $100 
to ^300. 

At 

NEW DURHAM, 

market gardening is very profitably followed, the soil being 
quite productive. Four trains each way stop daily, the ride from New 
York occupying *»nly thirty-five minutes. 



88 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

One mile f artlier north is 

GRANTON, 

(formerly known as Allertons), having the advantage of seven traing 
up and down daily, and distant thirty-nine minutes ride from Cham- 
bers street. The facilities for cultivation are good, and the prices of 
land range about the same as at the two previously mentioned villages. 
Passing through a heavy cutting, the first on the line, we nest 
reach 

FAIR VIEW, 

(formerly called English Neighborhood), nine miles from New York, 
reached thence in forty-four minutes, and accessible by seven trains 
to and from it daily. Here, several handsome residences are visible, 
streets are laid out, and everything presents an aspect of thrift and 
comfort. Land sells here at from $100 to $350 per lot, and from $4C0 
to 1,000 per acre. 

RIDGEFIELD, 

one mile beyond, is the junction point with a road crossing the 
meadows to the village of Hackensack. The place is quite an active 
and growing one, has the superior advantage of eight trains in each 
direction daily, and is only forty-seven minutes ride distant from 
the city. Land owners are active, and quite a number of new and 
elegant buildings, and an Episcopal Church, have been erected during 
the past tew years. Many pleasant villas are discernible by the 
passing passenger, and the church spires rising among them add a 
beauty to the scene. 

LEONIA, 

a pretty village, two miles and a half further on, is noticeable as pos- 
sessing quite a number of elegant residences, a public school, and 
several churches. Eight trains, going each way, stop daily at the 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 89 

station, which is reached from New York by a trip of fifty-three 
minutes. 

At this point, the land on the J eft of the track becomes higher, 
affording good building sites, while on the right hand, the hill rises 
by a gentle slope to the summit of the Palisades. Now we near 



teNGLEWOOD, 

an active and flourishing village, one hour distant from New York, 
and reached by nine trains daily. It has a population of over 3,000. 
and contains five excellent schools, (public or private,) for both sexes, 
Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Roman Catholic Churches, a 
good hotel, and a public hall. Near the railroad is also a large steam 
mill, furnishing power to a carriage manufactory and other industries. 
A handsome avenue runs hence up to the Palisades, where may be 
found a magnificent view of the Hudson, and a canal is projected to 
connect with New York by way of the Hackeusack River, thus bring- 
ing navigation directly to the village. 

As a place of residence, Englewood is very popular, and daily be- 
coming more so, among New Yorkers. Really a country home, it 
nevertheless abounds in the abodes of those who, having passed the 
crowding, hurrying era of life, can afford to devote a few hours of 
each day in quiet contemplation, or to the enjoyment of rural delights. 
The very appearance of the place indicates the moral and intellectual 
habits of those who have here sought homes. Prominent among the 
dwellings is one valued at $75,000, tl?e property of the President of 
the Panama Railroad Company, and there are many others, which are, 
in beauty and costliness of finish, worthy of admiration. 

About two thousand acres of land are in the market here at an 
average price of $1,000 per acre. Building and transfers of real estate 
have been going on actively of late years, giving promise of a con 
tinually increasing rate of growth. 

A mile beyond Englewood is 



90 SUBURBAN HOMES. " 

HIGHLAND, 

The lands in the vicinity of this station are dry and very desirable 
as building sites, the water is of good quality, and the scenery charm- 
ing. Within the circuit of a mile, are two Episcopal, two Presbyter- 
ian, and Baptist, Methodist and Roman Catholic Churches, two select 
schools and a district school. The population is estimated at about 
300, although, within the circuit mentioned, there are three times that 
number of residents. About 500 acres, situated within a half or 
three-quarters of a mile, can be had in lots, plots, or acres, at moder- 
ate prices, improved land selling at $1,000 and $1,500, and unimproved 
at $650 and $1,000 per acre. Eight trains stop at Highland daily- 

Still another mile brings us to 

TENAFLY, 

(formerly known as Highland House,) distant sixteen and three-quar. 
ter miles from New York, and reached by eight trains daily. A 
picturesque stone chuch, built by the Presbyterians, is conspicuous 
in the general view, and the Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists and 
Roman Catholics all have their own neat places of worship. The 
roads are all macadamized, and the sidewalks, ornamented with a 
double row of young maples, give a very pleasing effect. The 
grounds surrounding the depot are handsomely ornamented with 
trees and grass plots. Thehealthfnlness of this section of the country 
is proverbial, and it has long been a resort for invalids. A beautiful 
cream-colored stone, resembling the Caen stone of France, used for 
building, is found in great abuntiance in the mountain slope. Land 
sells here at about the same price as at Englewood. 
One mile and a quarter beyond Tenafiy is the important station of 

CRESSKILL, 

between which point and Jersey City, two additional special trainsj 
(eight in all), are run daily. The population numbers six hundred, 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 91 

and lliere are the usual facilities for purchasing the necessary articles 
of daily life, A thousand acres of Palisade property, with unexcelled 
river and landscape views, are offered for sale at this point, at aboui 
$1,000 per acre. Land sells near the depot at $100 per lot. 

DEMAREST, 

a mile further on, has a Post-office, district school, livery stable, and 
hotel, while a Seminary for young ladies, and the finest depot on the 
line, are also here projected. The surroundings of the latter are to 
be ornamented by a park and lake. Land sells here at $100 to $200 
per lot, and $400 to $1,200 per acre. 
We next reach 

OLOSTER 

a village of five or six hundred inhabitants, about twenty miles (an 
hour and nineteen minutes ride) from New York, and reached by 
seven trains daily. It contains three schools, two churches, (Methodist 
and Reformed Dutch,) a number of stores, many handsome dwellings, 
and two chair manufactories. Land sells here at $300 to $1,000 per 
lot (50x100), and acre land for farming purposes at $300. There are 
aboui five hundred acres in the market. 

NORWOOD, 

a mile and three-quarters beyond Closter, has about the same num- 
ber of inhabitants and the same railroad facilities. There are within 
a mile of the depot, at this point, a thousand acres available for 
purchase, at an average price per lot (50x150) of $300, or per acre, 
(improved) $500 to $1,000. Norwood has two churches. Episcopal and 
Presbyterian, a public school, and a well conducted seminary. Three 
brick yards are in profitable operation near the village. 

A ride of a mile and a half further north, brings us to the State 
line, and we enter Rockland county, close upon the border of which 



03 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

Stands the old historic village of 

TAPPAN, 

memorable as the spot where Major Andre was executed. Here are 
grand indications of modern enterprise, and the demand for Suburban 
homes is annually more apparent. Roads have been widened, and new 
ones opened, buildings are going up, and the whole aspect of the vil- 
lage, as seen by the arriving passenger, conveys the assurance that 
here dwell energy and thrift. There are two churches, two schools, a 
Post-office, quite a variety of stores, and a population of 500, and, 
within half a mile of the station, there are about two hundred acres 
of land for sale, at $600 per acre, and $300 to $500 per lot. Farms, 
with good buildings on them, can be had, at from one to three miles 
distance from the depot, for $300 per acre. 

SPARKHILL, 

about one mile and a quarter beyond, is the junction point of the 
Northern Railroad with the Erie as originally constructed fromPiermont 
westward. This station promises to be one of the most convenient and 
attractive of the many new clusters of beautiful homes in the vicinity 
of the Metropolis. li has the advantage of seven trains each way 
daily, and boasts a population of 500. During the past season, the 
grounds adjacent to the depot were laid out intp a park. It is also 
in contemplation to build an Athenaeum, to cost fifty or sixty thousand 
dollars, for lectures and musical entertainments, A macadamized 
Boulevard, 80 feet wide, is also to be opened from this point to Rock- 
land Lake, the greater part of it running in full view of the Hudson 
River. Land sells here at $800 to $1,500 per acre, and $300 to $1,000 
p«r lot. 

At this point, for the first time since leaving the tunnel, we see an 
opening in the Palisades, which have so persistently shut out our view 
of the river, and, through this opening, lined on one side by a continu- 
ous village, we now pass, on a de.s!cending grade of sixty feet to the 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 93 

mile, down to the river bank, catching some glorious glimpses of 
the Hudson as we go on, and find ourselves at 



PIERMONT. 

The pier built by the Erie Company at this point is a mile in 
length, and, at the outer extremity, expands to three hundred feet in 
width, including a spacious dock for boats. Large wooden buildings 
are erected at the end of the pier, and along its surface are innumer- 
able tracks and switches. The land at the head of the pier is all 
made ground, on which stand the spacious work-shops and engine- 
houses of the Company, employing, in times past, a large number of 
hands in car-building, engine-building, and repairing, but now disman- 
tled and idle. The embankment on which the station-liouse stands, 
divides the village into two parts. On the north is the main business 
street, facing the work-shops and showing along its entire length, 
neat stores, and dwellings, a church and a hotel, while above rise the 
steep mountains, dotted with coitages, and occasional villas. To the 
south, along the Sparkill Creek, the village stretches away toward 
Upper Piermont, which, in fact, may, with Piermont, be considered 
one and the same place, in this description. The joint population is 
estimated at about two thousand. There are five churches. Episcopal, 
Methodist, Baptist, Reformed, and Roman Catholic, and two public and 
two private schools, with any number of stores and markets, 
supplying the wants of daily life. As for building sites, 
probably no point wliich we have thus far visited offers them in 
greater attractiveness or variety. The completion of the railroad, 
running along the summit of the hills, from Upper Piermont to 
Nyack, and of several new carriage roads, has thrown upon the market 
a large amount of unimproved property which has thus become 
very desirable for villa sites. The visitor will find it worth while to 
ascend the heights above the village and enjoy the prospects they aflford- 
The most striking of these is the map-like view of the station and 
pier, which last seems to stretch half way across the river. 
Opposite, is Mr. Paulding's residence at Tarrytown, and " Sunnyside." 



94 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

the country seat of the late Washington Irving. It was 
near the former village that Major Andre was captured. The broad 
placid sheet of the Hudson contrasts strangely with the busy 
scene at our feet,' while, on the right, just beneath us, winds the sin- 
uous Sparkiil among the grassy meadows. Northward, we have a su- 
perb view of the Nyack hills and the Tappan Zee, and if we turn 
around to the west, the summit of the Torne raises itself against the 
sky, from amid the hazy landscape beneath it. 

Near this charming spot, there is any quantity of land to be had 
at from $500 to $1,000 per lot, or, for farming purposes, at $500 per 
acre. 

GRA.ND VIEW 

is the first station on the Nyack Extension railroad, running along 
the summit of the Palisades from Upper Piermont, a distance of 
four miles to Nyack. At this, the highest point on the line, the track 
has an elevation of two hundred and fifty feet above the river, and 
the passenger is treated to one of the most delightful bits of scenery 
to be found anywhere on the entire route. A mile or more beyond, 
we come to 

MANSFIELD AV^ENUE, 

& station erected at the crossing of the avenue leading to the Rock- 
land Female Institute, an imposing edifice, located on the river bank, 
and but a few minutes walk distant. By this time, we are within the 
corporate limits of 

NYACK, 

distant from New York twenty-eight miles, and beautifully situated 
as is Newburgh, on the slope overlooking the river. It has a popu. 
lation of about five thousand, a large number of whom are engaged 
in the manufacturing interests, which bid fair yet to make the 
place one of the largej^t and most prosperous among the river cities 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 95 

of the majestic Hudson. Shoes to the value of nearly half a million 
dollars are annually shipped hence, while the manufacture of wooden- 
ware, and boilers, and the building of boats and yachts, each give 
employment to a considerable number. 

In addition to its extensive home industries, Nyack boasts also a' 
National Bank, (the Rockland County,) a volunteer Fire Departmsent, 
(two companies,) Gas Works, Churches of the Presbyterian, Reformed, 
Episcopal, Baptist, Methodist, Roman-Catholic, and Universalist de- 
nominations, some of which are very elegant structures, and an ex- 
cellent educational system, including a three story Public School 
House, built of brick, and visible from the depot. 

The drives in the vicinity are charming, especially that one ex- 
tending along the river bank from Nyack to Piermont, lined by a 
succession of tasteful residences, and shaded by long rows of elms 
and beech trees; in short, as a place of residence, Nyack may be 
said to present, with its clear, invigorating atmosphere, its complete 
drainage, and attractive scenery and surroundings, unsurpassed 
beauties for the seeker after a Suburban Home. Property sells at 
from $3,000 to $5,000 per acre, and at from $300 to $1,000 for village 
lots eligibly located. 

From Upper Piermont, again our course lies northwestward, by 
way of the Erie Railway proper. A ride of a mile and a quarter, 
brings us t6 the little village of Orangeburgh, and still another, of the 
same distance, to 

BLAUVELTVILLE, 

distant from New York twenty-seven and a quarter miles, and reached 
by five trains daily. This village numbers five hundred inhabitants* 
and contains Roman Catholic and Presbyterian Churcnes, three 
schools, a hotel, a tobacco and a chair manufactory, and ex- 
hibits many signs of activity in the widening and cutting of 
roads and building of new houses and stores. Considerable business 
is done here, both in the milk and strawberry trade, it being stated 



96 SUBURBAN HOMES. 

that as long ago as 1855, a single train carried hence to New York, 
80,000 baskets of strawberries, and 28,000 quarts of milk. 

The price of land here varies considerably according to locality, 
running as high as $1,000 and as low as $450 per acre. 

At Blauveltville, the road passes through a deep catting of clay, 
and. a mile or two beyond, over a long embankment, from which a 
fine view is obtained. The country is very open here, and looking to 
the southeast, we can see the bold headlands of the Palisades, stretch- 
ing away as far as Hoboken. 

NANUET, 

the next stopping place, now acquires a new importance, as being the 
point at which the Erie is intersected by the New York and Hacken- 
sack Extension road to Haverstraw. Of its general characteristics, 
but little can be said. The country hereabout, which was originally 
settled by Dutch Huguenots, has an uninteresting, dull aspect, varied 
however, at one point, by the view of a brown stone Gothic cottage, 
of elaborate design and finish, built by the celebrated self-taught 
Scottish sculptor, Mr Thorn, whose skill stands recorded, not only 
in that well-known work of art " TamO'Shanter and Souter Johnnie." 
bat, in a life-size statue of Washington, cut from a single block of 
stone. 

A short ride from Nanuet brings us to 

SPRING VALLEY, 

fe point which, in common Avith the preceding one, enjoys a large 
accession of traffic in consequence of the recent prolongation of the 
Hackensack Extension Railroad. It is a thriving village of 2,500 in- 
habitants, full of life and energy, and with five churches, (Episcopal, 
Methodist, Reformed, Baptist and Roman Catholic), good hotels, and 
schools, and an extensive factory devoted to t)ie manufacture of mos- 
quito netting. Price of laud, $300 and $1,500 per lot ; $100 and $400 
per acre. 



SUBURBAN nOMBS. 07 

About a mile further on is 

MONSET. 

Here the road reaches the summit of the sixty feet grade by which 
we ascend from the shores of the Hudson, and from this point the 
track again descends for a distance of five and a half miles to Suf- 
fern. The population of Mousey is about 500, and the village con- 
tains two churches, and a public and primary school. About fifty 
acres of land are in the market, lots selling anywhere between $200 
and $1,000, and acres at from $100 to $1,300. 

TALLMANS 

is the terminus for passenger trains on the Piermont Branch, and 
also of a branch on the Hackensack Road. The people here are 
displaying considerable activity in bringing their land into the mar- 
ket, and good building sites or farming land may be had at extremely 
reasonable rates. After we pass Tallmans, there looms up directly 
across the line of the road, a dark curtain of mountains, rising higher 
as the traveler approaches. The long line of the ridge is soon broken 
into what is called the Ramapo Gap, and here, in its very jaws, we 
reach Suffern, the point at which we before arrived by the main line 
from Jersey City. 

And now, reader, the long shadows of evening are ailing athwart 
the meadows, " the sun is creeping o'er steeple and tree," the distant 
hills grow purple and shadowy in the sunset, and the cool night 
breeze comes in through the car windows, as, with the endless clatter 
of wheels, and the tireless snort of the iron horse, we are whizzed 
rapidly homeward to Gotham, whence, a week ago, we set out npon 
this extended, yet delightful trip. And back with us, as we go, we 
carry sunny memories of the numberless charming spots through 
which the journey has led us. From wooded mountain top, sur- 
rounded by a solitude as profound as existed there in the days of the 



98 SUBDKBAN H0ME8. 

Creation — we liave looked down upon fertile valleys, teeming with 
life and happiness; from the depths of sylvan glad.es we have glanced 
upward, only to catch glimpses of tlie clear, blue sky, peeping in 
through the tree-tops ; over meadows where the cattle low, through 
hamlets where the mill-wheels clatter, by bridges where the river 
rushes, through forest ot grand old oaks which have shielded from 
the summer sun generations long since dead and gone, have we 
glided on the parallel lines of glistening steel, learning a world oi 
teachings from Nature, and gaining ever new confidence ia, and ad- 
miration for, the industry and enterprise oi man. 

Permit us, then, reader, to give vou, and the Suburban-Home-seek- 
ing public, a few hints which may be of service. First ot all, lose 
no time in selecting your property, and when you buy, buy at 
once all you need ; not for speculation, but for actual settlement. 
Once a land owner, become a householder. Build yourself a house, 
large or small, plain or elegant, according to the size ot ''our family 
or your purse, but, at all events, make it substantial and comfortable- 
Do not fail to provide for keeping poultry, and a cow, nor for the 
culture of fruit, vegetables and flowers. Make the surroundings or 
your home as attractive as its interior, regulate your habits by the 
hours, cultivate a kindly sociable disposition towards your neighbors, 
and vou'U live in your Suburban Home to an honored and ripe old 
age, and see your children, and your children's children, rise up and 
call you 0i8s««d. 



SUBURBAN HOMES. 



99 



A.lj:.en & Dunning, 

Successors to 

ALLEN, REYNOLDS & CO., 

Manufacturers of 

TOBACCO, SNUFF & SEG-ARS, 

ALSO. THE CELEBRATED 

Imported Segars, Rubbing Snuflf, 

Pipes of all kinds, Ping Tobacco, &c. 

PATERSON, N. J. 

PABTIES DESiaNING TO EBECT 



Should not fail to call on 

FRANCIS TOMKINS, 

WOODSIDE, NEWAKK, N. J. 

MANUFACTURER OP 

GBOUNO ItME AND CAUtNED PIASTER, 

Also, Dealer in 

Masons' Building Materials ! 

!QP* FARMERS supplied with Lime and Planter for agricultuTa' 
purposes. 



150,000 HOUSES 

Have been painted vsjith the 

AVHBIIili 

Chemical Paint. 

IT IS 

HANDSOHEE, MORE DURABLE, 



^T^D 



Cost less the best of any other. 



Extracts from oar Letters, 

Gen'l. Jas. Negley, M. C. — ^'l find the Averill the cheapest 
and best." 

P. T. Barnum, Esq.—" The Averill Paint outwears the English 
Lead." 

Gen'l. David H. Strothers. — " Your paint fulfills your rep 
resentations." 

Rev. S. C. Alexander, — " We liave saved $150 by using the 
Averill Paint.'' 

Peter Henderson, Esq. — " I find the Averill to wear better 
than Lead and Oil, done at same time." 



Space will not admit of more extracts, but sample 
cards, prices and further recommends from owners of the 
finest villas and residences in the country, furnished free by 
the company's agents. 

SEELEY & STEVENS, 

32 Burling Slip, Ifetv York. 



COMMUTATIOlSr TARIFF, 

Eastern Division & Branches, 

(Continued.) 



HACKENSACK BRANCH. 



NEW YORK 

AND 



CARLSTADT 

WOODRIDGE 

CORONA 

LODI 

LOWER HACKENSACK 
UPPER HACKENSACK . 

CHERRY HILL 

RIVER EDGE 

NEWMILFORD 

ORADELL 

KINDERKAMACK 

WESTWOOD 

HILLSDALE 

PASCACK 

PARK RIDGE 

MONTVALE 

PEARL RIVER 

NANUET 

SPRING VALLEY 

MONSEY 



9% 



14^ 

14% 

16 

i7h 

18X 

19 

20>^ 

21-4^ 

22X 
23M 
24M 
25^ 
26^ 
29 

3IK 

32^ 



COMMUTATION. 



One 
Month. 



11.00 
II. 50 
12.00 
12.50 
12.50 
12.50 
M-75 
16.50 
17-25 
17-75 
18.50 
20.25 
21.5c 
21.75 
22.00 
22.25 
22.50 
22.50 
23.00 
24.00 



Three 
Months. 



22.50 
23.00 
24.00 
25.00 
25.00 
25.00 
29.00 
32-50 
34.00 
35-00 
36.50 
40.00 
42.00' 
42.75 
43.25 
43.75 
44.25 
44.50 
44.75 
45.00 1 



it irst I Second 

Six I Six 

Months. Months. 



40.00 
40.75 
42,00 
43.50 
43-50 
43-50 
51.25 
56.75 
59-50 
61.00 
66.0O 
70.00 
74.00 
74.00 
74.00 
74.00 
74.00 
67.50 
68.75 
70.00 



j 25.00 
I 25.75 
j 27.00 
28.50 
28.50 
28.50 
33-75 
37-25 
39.00 
40,00 
43.00 
45-75 
48.00 
51.25 
54.00 
56.00 
60.00 
62.50 
63-75 
65.00 



Twel 

Months. 



60.00 

60.75 

61.75 

63,00 

63.00 

63.00 

75.00 

82.75 

87,00 

89.00 i 

96,00 j 

102,00 I 

108.00 I 

III.OO I 

113.00 j 
"4.50 J 

117.00 
117,00 
"7-50 
120.00 I 



NEWBURGH AND NEW YORK BRANCH. 



HIGHLAND MILLS 

CROMWELLS 

WOODBURY 

VALLEY 

MOUNTAINVILLE cc 

CORNWALL r6i^ 

NEW WINDSOR^.. y.^.^ 6o>^ 

NEWBUR GH . . . ^^yJUy. & f^^^v<rfc. 63)6 



48X 
49X 
50K 

53>ir 



0.40 
0.50 

0.55 

0.60 
0.65 
0.65 

0.75 
0.85 
0.9s 
1.05 

i'i5 
1.25 
1.30 




NEWBURGH AND WARWICK BRANCH. 




CRAIGVILLE 

WASH INGTONVILLE 

SALISBURY .. 

VAIL'S GATE ■.;;■ 

WARWICK 


64H 


24.00 
25.50 
26.50 
28.00 
28.50 


47.75 I 76.00 
50.50 80.25 
52.00 82.50 
53-75 86.00 
56.25 1 91.50 


69.25 
73.25 
77.50 
So.oo 
82.25 


137.50 
147.50 
154-00 

iDo.OO 
167.00 


2.30 
2.50 
2.60 
2.75 

2-75 



MONTGOMERY AND WALKILL VALLEY BRANCH. 



MONTGOMERY I 70 j 28.00 59.00 



WALDEN 



73X 



3.00 93.00 186.00 3.00 
• - • I 3-20 









A Practical Book, one that Architects, Builders aad Carpenters cannot afford to 
be without, entitled 

Detail Cottage and Constructive ArcFiitecture, 

Containinff '76 Full Plates, 20 plates more than before offered in a similar 
work for Ten Dollars. 

Publishing under direction of A. J. Bicknell. 
Showing a great variety of Designs for Cornices, Brackets, Windows and 
Window Caps, Doors, Piazzas, Porches, Bay and Dormer Windows, Observa- 
tories, Towers, Chimney Tops, Balconies, Canopies, Scrolls, Gable and Sawed 
Ornaments, Fences, Stairs, Newels, Architraves, Mantles, Plaster Finish, etc., 
etc. ; including Forty-five Perspectives, Elevations and Plans of Modern Designs 
for Cottages, with Details, and Eighteen Elevations of Summer Houses, Villas, 
Seaside Cottages and Country Houses, together with Fourteen Designs for 
Street and Store Fronts, with Inside Finish for Stores and Banks ; also. Framing 
for Dwellings, Barns, Exhibition Buildings, Roofs, Bridges, etc., etc., making, in 
all, a Practical Book for Architects, Builders, Carpenters, and all who contemplate 
Building or Remodeling Wood, Stone or Brick Buildings. One Large Quarto 
Volume, sent Free by mail or express, on receipt of Price , $10 00 

By FREDERICK C. WITHERS. 
One large volume of fifty, 9x14 plates, substantially bound in extra cloth, sent 
by mail or express to any part of the.Uuited States, upon receipt of price. $20.00 

Recently Piablislieci, 

BIOICJSrEr^Ij'S VILXiA-GJ-E BXJILTDBR, 
-A.nd. Suppleinent. 

In One Volume, price $12.00 

Parties desiring the Supplement only, will be supplied, post-paid, on receipt 
of $5.00. 

.A-I^CKCITBOTTJI^E. 
By CUMMINGS & MILLER. 
One large Quarto Volume. Price, post-paid , flO.OO 

A. J, BICKNELL «€• CO., Publishers^ 

37 ^Varreii Street, 

NEW ¥OKK. 

Catalogue mailed free to any address. 
The design shown on page 24 is specified in Village Builder. 




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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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